Mohinder Singh, 49, was short on sleep and high on drugs when he veered into a service lane and crashed a 19-tonne semi-trailer into the Victoria Police officers, who had pulled over Porsche driver Richard Pusey for speeding.
Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, and constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney were killed in the April 2020 crash.
Singh was last year jailed for 22 years after pleading guilty to culpable driving causing death. He must serve 18-and-a-half years before he is eligible for parole.
He appeared in Victoria's Court of Appeal on Monday by videolink from prison, with his barrister Peter Morrissey arguing the sentence was "manifestly excessive".
Mr Morrissey said the sentence did not give enough weight to Singh's early plea of guilty, his remorse and his psychological disorders.
He said Supreme Court Justice Paul Coghlan's sentence on each of the four culpable driving offences was "extremely stern".
"The original sentence is too big ... It needed to be much lighter than it was," he told the court.
Mr Morrissey also argued Singh's non-parole period was too long and that his client had some prospects for rehabilitation.
Prosecutors rejected the appeal's grounds, arguing the sentence and non-parole period were within the range open to Justice Coghlan for such serious offending.
Families of the four police officers attended the appeal hearing, which continues before President Karin Emerton and Justices Emilios Kyrou and Terry Forrest.
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