Anyone who’s ever pulled a load of cows down the road has had plenty of time to reflect on one simple fact; if every bull rack suddenly pulled off the highway and parked it, our beef production industry would come to a screeching halt.  It would sound like maximum brakes applied to a loaded coal train. 

I’ve been telling industry reps this for years at conventions and in meetings, and slowly they’ve started to see the light.  This critical sector of the industry needs some positive attention if we hope to maintain our level of production, let alone ramp it up in the next two decades. 

Commercial cattle truckers are facing challenges coming from behind two separate doors.  The first door, marked Trucking Commodities for a Living, houses challenges that all truckers face; fuel, rubber, insurance, equipment, time away OTR, all that good stuff. 

The second door, marked Hauling Cattle for a Living, has an entirely different set of challenges that would cause most freight drivers to have nightmares.  Challenges like Animal Rights people watching and plotting your every move, or hauling a load of very perishable live animals that keep you awake while you’re trying to get some sleep in the bunk …. weather variables that can change the environmental conditions inside the trailer at the drop of a hat, cattle buyers and shippers that literally coerce you into taking too many critters or throwing a crippled rawhider on your load. Add to that increased insurance rates just because you have the word Livestock on your truck door, and no place left on earth to clean out after a load when the cow-shit in the back is “just right” to scrape out, and it becomes easy to see why cattle haulers have a level of frustration second to none in the business. 

But still, you keep showing up for loads.  And we thank you for that.  You must like doing it, there must be something about the people and the countryside, the freedom, maybe the 25 hours a day you get to work during fall run.  Who knows?  But if it wasn’t for you guys we’d be driving cattle up the old Chisholm Trail, if we could find it, that is.  It’s probably buried under somebody’s corn field. 

As a consultant to the industry it’s my obligation to see that we get our act together, which we are working on.  In the meantime, here are few tips you can use that might go a long way toward making some evolutionary improvements in the transport sector: 

Animal Rights

• Don’t give interviews or offer any comments to any person that does not present credible credentials.  Don’t talk to anyone in a truck stop or sale barn parking lot, and don’t let anybody near or on your trailer. 
• If you use an electric prod, there are two types of hits; a hot hit (press the button, zap the cow) and a cold hit (just touching the wand to the cow without zapping it).  There is nothing wrong with a cold hit, and don’t let anyone watching tell you any different.
• Don’t hot hit a critter that is already moving.  That’s like slapping your buddy for picking up the lunch tab.  He’s already doing the right thing, so don’t punish him for it.
• Don’t prod a critter anywhere on its body that doesn’t have a good coat of hair on it, and never forward of the shoulder.
• If you are coerced by the buyer / shipper into loading a critter that will obviously go down on the truck and cause you some problems at your destination, do these two things;  1) write down on your paperwork “Black Cow #34 loaded under protest / shipper’s name is Bob *****”,  2) load the bad critter in the back compartment.  That way, if anybody wants to know, you did your best to avoid loading it, and when it became obvious that the shipper was pressuring you to take it, you did the best you could for the critter by putting it in the compartment that is most accessible with the least amount of competition.

Cleanout

Scrape and wash out in designated areas only.  Don’t run with the plugs open. 

Communication

Let industry members like me know what challenges you need us to tackle.  We’ll see if we can make something positive happen. This forum is intended to be a place where valid comments or queries can be shared so that we can all make positive steps toward improving this sector and make your professional lives easier. Use it, tell others about it, get involved. Together, we have a much stronger voice!