a little bit about bullhaulin'

[eplurubus]

This thread probably won't develop into much, but I'm bored and thought I'd share my cattle hauling experiences with everyone.

For anyone who doesn't know, cattle haulers are called bullhaulers. It doesn't matter if your hauling cows, calves, fat cattle, bulls, ect. - we're bullhaulers. A cattle trailer is called a cattle pot or, simply, a bullrack. Hog and sheep trailers are a little different, but usually they are just bullracks with hog and sheep decks. If you want to holler at a bullhauler on the radio just say cow truck, bullrack or bullhauler.

I parked my truck and I've been driving someone else's truck hauling cattle since last year. It's not usually the wisest idea to let a truck sit, but I didn't have much experience hauling livestock and I wanted to learn on someone else's dime. Having someone else pay for my mistakes is always nicer than me having to pay for my mistakes. So, I'll get the experience that I need and make the contacts that I need to make, then try running as an independent bullhauler myself.

I won't get too specific about my hauls because we're always little bit illegal, but I'll give the basics. I do mostly fat-cattle hauling. I haul some feeder calves now and again (a lot in the fall and winter), but we're shipping out right now and not bringing anything in. My fat-cattle run is a five-hundred mile drive from the feedlot to the packing plant. It takes roughly nine hours as we go through too many stoplights on our route. The cattle do fine to stand for that long. I gross about one-hundred thousand pounds with a full load and a half tank of fuel. I have seven axles so I can axle out legally; I'm over on my gross, though, for a couple states. I deliver the cattle, then drive back empty to get the next load. Most of the guys that I run with drive down, deliver, turn around and drive back all in one shot. I can't do that. Obviously, those guys pretty much throw HOS out the window. I stay compliant as I park the truck after I deliver and drive back the next day; I'm one of the few, though. We ship every other day with one day off.

The truck is a '09 Pete 386 with a pusher axle. The bullrack is a '05 Wilson 53' tri-axle with the rear axle being a lift axle. Truck has a 550hp Cummins (1850 ft/lb torque) with 18 speed. Rears are 3.55. MPG is horrible. We run fast where we can, but the stoplights keep us from making good time. I'm always last as I tend to drive the speed limit for most of the way, but if I'm in an area where I can drop the hammer and smoke the wheels for enough miles to make it worth it, then I'll do it. Bullracks are more stable than a lot of people think. Cattle lean into turns just like we do, but braking and turning or swerving can catch them off guard.

Some bullhaulers seem to be cut from a different mold, but in the end we're all truckers just the same. Every industry has its good points and bad points and bullhauling is no different. We have egghead dispatchers, problems with trucks, and issues with DOT just like everyone else. That's all I can think of for now; I'd better get some sleep since I load in the morning! Questions and comments welcome!

[GMAN]

Do you use feed lots where you haul? You might want to address loading and unloading cattle.

[mike3fan]

What kinda of revenue can the truck make for all miles driven?

[ronjon619]

I was wondering about trailer washouts for bull haulers. How much are they and where do you get them done?

[eplurubus]

What kinda of revenue can the truck make for all miles driven?

Well, being the driver, I'm not sure what the carrier's costs vs. revenue is. I also haven't asked around lately about rates, but I think they're in the $3.00/mi. range up to a certain weight (48 or 50K lbs.), and then over that weight the rate starts going up. I've heard that kind of rate setting is called "by the ton/mile". I load 62,500 lbs. but the cattle I've been hauling have been owned by the carrier, so it's not the best example anyways. Bullhauling has a lot of empty miles, but the rates allow a guy to still make some money. This should be obvious as a lot of cow trucks are nice Petes!

As far as washouts go, I do them back at the feedlot that I load out of, though this is not typical. Usually, a bullhauler has to find a washout, which can be found at livestocknetwork.com or just by asking around, and pay for it. I think the charges are in the range of $25-40.

[ronjon619]

I think the charges are in the range of $25-40.

Damn, the guy doing the washout is getting ripped off.

[Syncrosonix]

within a 24hr period, how many lines of meth does the average bullhauler snort? the way i've seen many of them drive, they have got to be high.

yeah, i know....bad stereotype is bad.

[eplurubus]

Damn, the guy doing the washout is getting ripped off.

The driver does the washing. So basically, I pay someone $30 so that I can washout my own trailer. But they have to deal with what comes out of it!

GMAN said something about loading/unloading. Obviously, the issue of a cattle prod/hotshot comes up when we talk about loading and unloading cattle. Everybody knows that we use them. Unfortunately, some guys use them way too much. They usually aren't necessary if the facilities are built in a way that allows for easy loading and if the loaders are cattle-wise. However, it seems as if there is always a few animals that do not want to cooperate, so we have to be more persuasive with them. During unloading, it's very rare to have to assist an animal out of the trailer with a hotshot since they are often very willing to get out of the trailer.

If anyone is wondering about weight distribution, the trailer is divided into several compartments. The nose of my trailer is 11' long x 102" wide. It can be double decked with a removable deck. The removable deck allows me to put it in when hauling calves up to about 800lbs, then I take it out to haul fat cattle and cows as they tend to be taller and need a little more head room. I keep my weight under 10,000lbs in the nose as it's directly over my drives. The middle section of the trailer is 27' long and double decked with a gate directly in the middle of each level so that each level can be divided into two compartments, if needed. The tail is 14'6" long and double decked with a fold-up deck. The upper deck has less headroom than the lower deck and is called a doghouse or jail. This upper area is for calves only. I load up to 10,000lbs in the tail as it's directly over the trailer axles. So, my loading formula is this:

Step 1) 10,000lbs/average weight of the animals = # of animals that go into the tail
Step 2) Step 1 minus one animal = # of animals that go into the nose
Step 3) Split whatever is left between the top and bottom middle sections with the odd animal going into the bottom

In step one, I round down to a whole number. If the math gives me 8.4 animals, then eight go in the tail and seven go in the nose. Remember, with three axles I can put 43,500 on them. So, I'll put up to 10,000lbs directly over my axles, but with a live load, the cattle in the middle can move towards one end or the other affecting my axle weights. It can be a problem if they have too much room to move around, so I like to pack 'em tight in the middle and leave my nose/tail light if I need to. That's also why there are gates in the middle sections; you can gate them as they're loaded to keep them from moving end to end like a big amoeba.

[Mackman]

How much do you make being a driver??? If you dont want to give your OWN numbers then how much does the avg. driver make. You guys get paid by the mile or %. Or flat rate??

Thanks
Mackman

[eplurubus]

How much do you make being a driver??? If you dont want to give your OWN numbers then how much does the avg. driver make. You guys get paid by the mile or %. Or flat rate??

Thanks
Mackman

Just like most of the other company drivers on the road, I get paid by the mile. I get 35 cents/mile, and we ship three loads a week equaling about 1000 miles round trip per load. So, that's $1050/week. Housing and health insurance are provided, also. I don't know if this is the average pay for a company-driver bullhauler. Most of the other trucks that I run with are O/O with their own authority pulling someone else's trailer. I think they get around 90% of the gross for the load. Don't take my word on that, though. They are dispatched by the guy that owns the trailers.

[Mackman]

Just like most of the other company drivers on the road, I get paid by the mile. I get 35 cents/mile, and we ship three loads a week equaling about 1000 miles round trip per load. So, that's $1050/week. Housing and health insurance are provided, also. I don't know if this is the average pay for a company-driver bullhauler. Most of the other trucks that I run with are O/O with their own authority pulling someone else's trailer. I think they get around 90% of the gross for the load. Don't take my word on that, though. They are dispatched by the guy that owns the trailers.

They provide Housing??? Is there any websites with more info about leasing a truck on to these trailer owners??

I tought you would get more then 35cpm. But i know nothing about bullhauling

[eplurubus]

They provide Housing??? Is there any websites with more info about leasing a truck on to these trailer owners??

I tought you would get more then 35cpm. But i know nothing about bullhauling

I didn't know anything about bullhauling, either, until a friend of mine asked me to haul some of his cows to summer pasture last year. After that, I decided that bullhauling is the kind of trucking that I wanted to do. The outfit that I'm driving for right now is not typical of most others, obviously. I'm an employee of the motor carrier and the feedlot; they are one and the same. When we're not shipping fats, I can do some farming, drive the feed truck, check pens for sick calves, haul grain, etc. Part of my compensation is housing. This is usual among farming/ranching jobs.

Mackman, I'm not sure about websites with info about leasing a bullrack. I think you'd just have to check with the actual companies that do that. Some of them are BeefCorp (beefcorp.net), CowTran, Stockman's Transport, PrimeTime, Nelson, Eastern, and others that I can't think of right now. Most of them are located in the Midwest (Iowa, MN, KS) and West (MT, ID, WY).

[truckmetal13]

This thread probably won't develop into much, but I'm bored and thought I'd share my cattle hauling experiences with everyone.

For anyone who doesn't know, cattle haulers are called bullhaulers. It doesn't matter if your hauling cows, calves, fat cattle, bulls, ect. - we're bullhaulers. A cattle trailer is called a cattle pot or, simply, a bullrack. Hog and sheep trailers are a little different, but usually they are just bullracks with hog and sheep decks. If you want to holler at a bullhauler on the radio just say cow truck, bullrack or bullhauler.

I parked my truck and I've been driving someone else's truck hauling cattle since last year. It's not usually the wisest idea to let a truck sit, but I didn't have much experience hauling livestock and I wanted to learn on someone else's dime. Having someone else pay for my mistakes is always nicer than me having to pay for my mistakes. So, I'll get the experience that I need and make the contacts that I need to make, then try running as an independent bullhauler myself.

I won't get too specific about my hauls because we're always little bit illegal, but I'll give the basics. I do mostly fat-cattle hauling. I haul some feeder calves now and again (a lot in the fall and winter), but we're shipping out right now and not bringing anything in. My fat-cattle run is a five-hundred mile drive from the feedlot to the packing plant. It takes roughly nine hours as we go through too many stoplights on our route. The cattle do fine to stand for that long. I gross about one-hundred thousand pounds with a full load and a half tank of fuel. I have seven axles so I can axle out legally; I'm over on my gross, though, for a couple states. I deliver the cattle, then drive back empty to get the next load. Most of the guys that I run with drive down, deliver, turn around and drive back all in one shot. I can't do that. Obviously, those guys pretty much throw HOS out the window. I stay compliant as I park the truck after I deliver and drive back the next day; I'm one of the few, though. We ship every other day with one day off.

The truck is a '09 Pete 386 with a pusher axle. The bullrack is a '05 Wilson 53' tri-axle with the rear axle being a lift axle. Truck has a 550hp Cummins (1850 ft/lb torque) with 18 speed. Rears are 3.55. MPG is horrible. We run fast where we can, but the stoplights keep us from making good time. I'm always last as I tend to drive the speed limit for most of the way, but if I'm in an area where I can drop the hammer and smoke the wheels for enough miles to make it worth it, then I'll do it. Bullracks are more stable than a lot of people think. Cattle lean into turns just like we do, but braking and turning or swerving can catch them off guard.

Some bullhaulers seem to be cut from a different mold, but in the end we're all truckers just the same. Every industry has its good points and bad points and bullhauling is no different. We have egghead dispatchers, problems with trucks, and issues with DOT just like everyone else. That's all I can think of for now; I'd better get some sleep since I load in the morning! Questions and comments welcome!

Where I can find Bull Haulers company to work for them . Do you know any around Chicago . Thanks

[Jackrabbit379]

Sounds like a good job.
If ya don't mind, who are ya driving for?
Just be careful in the curves, turns etc. Dont wanna have a rollover.

mike3fan, most of the guys that run out of the feedlots make $3.00-$5.00/mile. Atleast that's the last I've heard.

[kreeper01]

This thread probably won't develop into much, but I'm bored and thought I'd share my cattle hauling experiences with everyone.

For anyone who doesn't know, cattle haulers are called bullhaulers. It doesn't matter if your hauling cows, calves, fat cattle, bulls, ect. - we're bullhaulers. A cattle trailer is called a cattle pot or, simply, a bullrack. Hog and sheep trailers are a little different, but usually they are just bullracks with hog and sheep decks. If you want to holler at a bullhauler on the radio just say cow truck, bullrack or bullhauler.

I parked my truck and I've been driving someone else's truck hauling cattle since last year. It's not usually the wisest idea to let a truck sit, but I didn't have much experience hauling livestock and I wanted to learn on someone else's dime. Having someone else pay for my mistakes is always nicer than me having to pay for my mistakes. So, I'll get the experience that I need and make the contacts that I need to make, then try running as an independent bullhauler myself.

I won't get too specific about my hauls because we're always little bit illegal, but I'll give the basics. I do mostly fat-cattle hauling. I haul some feeder calves now and again (a lot in the fall and winter), but we're shipping out right now and not bringing anything in. My fat-cattle run is a five-hundred mile drive from the feedlot to the packing plant. It takes roughly nine hours as we go through too many stoplights on our route. The cattle do fine to stand for that long. I gross about one-hundred thousand pounds with a full load and a half tank of fuel. I have seven axles so I can axle out legally; I'm over on my gross, though, for a couple states. I deliver the cattle, then drive back empty to get the next load. Most of the guys that I run with drive down, deliver, turn around and drive back all in one shot. I can't do that. Obviously, those guys pretty much throw HOS out the window. I stay compliant as I park the truck after I deliver and drive back the next day; I'm one of the few, though. We ship every other day with one day off.

The truck is a '09 Pete 386 with a pusher axle. The bullrack is a '05 Wilson 53' tri-axle with the rear axle being a lift axle. Truck has a 550hp Cummins (1850 ft/lb torque) with 18 speed. Rears are 3.55. MPG is horrible. We run fast where we can, but the stoplights keep us from making good time. I'm always last as I tend to drive the speed limit for most of the way, but if I'm in an area where I can drop the hammer and smoke the wheels for enough miles to make it worth it, then I'll do it. Bullracks are more stable than a lot of people think. Cattle lean into turns just like we do, but braking and turning or swerving can catch them off guard.

Some bullhaulers seem to be cut from a different mold, but in the end we're all truckers just the same. Every industry has its good points and bad points and bullhauling is no different. We have egghead dispatchers, problems with trucks, and issues with DOT just like everyone else. That's all I can think of for now; I'd better get some sleep since I load in the morning! Questions and comments welcome!

Gee wiz, and i thought pulling a Reefer trailer was bad about running illegal, when Priority was still in business, they hauled alot of Tyson loads which had to be there ASAP!!

[eplurubus]

Where I can find Bull Haulers company to work for them . Do you know any around Chicago . Thanks

Sorry, I don't know of anybody around Chicago. Also, you have to understand that a lot of bullhaulers are independents with their own authority. You're not going to find a big company that you can just go drive for like you can with any of the dime-a-dozen van carriers. You might find a guy that has a couple or three trucks, or maybe even several trucks, but you're dealing with a single man, not some big corporation. Plus, if a guy has a truck open, then he's probably going to have a much stricter hiring policy than the typical carrier.

If you're dead set on being a bullhauler, then get on the phone with farmers/ranchers and feedlots and get personal. You have to show that you're serious and that you're real. Cattle are always moving, so there's always work for someone. I know I eat my share of burgers and steaks!

[eplurubus]

I started this thread in May, and I feel like adding to it. There's a lot of complaining in the freight world about poor freight rates and poor availability. However, cattle hauling is going strong where I'm running, which is in the Dakotas. Loads are countless and rates are good (>$3). But it's only temporary; right now is the fall run, and it'll die off considerably in a month or so.

I've learned a lot in the year after making the switch from flatbed to livestock. Interestingly, I've learned more about the trucking industry as a whole from pulling a bullrack. Lots of things are different, but many things are the same. I've confirmed some of the rumors and gossip-tales that circulate among freight haulers about bullhaulers, and I've dismissed a great many, also. For example, how many of you have heard the story by some trucker who knows a bullhauler that got an inspection, and the inspector crawled under the bullrack to check brakes and came out with cow manure dripping off him? That is a complete lie; it hasn't happened because it's not possible. Livestock trailers are sealed so nothing can leak out except through the traps in floor (after they have been opened), and those traps are not located over the axles! You can lay on the ground in between the axles of a loaded bullrack for an hour and not get a drop of cowcrap on you! And if the traps are sealed properly, there won't be any on the ground, either.

I upgraded my trailer from a tri-axle to a quad-axle. Now, my gross weight is 105,000 lbs loaded. I take loads throughout the Dakotas, Montana, WY, MN, IA, NE, and CO. If you know state-specific weights, then you'll realize that I'm overweight in most of the states. Part of the fun, though, is avoiding permanent scales and trying to dodge the portables. This is usually accomplished by running through the night.

One thing that I've learned is to not be paranoid about things, particularly weight and HOS. Rarely am I bothered about those things, but when it is an issue, I just stay professional, pay my fine, and get on my way. Too often, drivers make a big fuss over something that isn't really a big deal. For example, being overweight on an axle. So what!?! If I get stopped, then I accept the violation, pay the fine, buy the permit, get back on the road. However, most drivers won't do that. They bitch and moan and complain and blame. That just makes things even worse.

I've also learned to drive faster. I've read numerous posts about driving 55 - 65 mph and delivering at the same time as some big rigger who drives 75 and blows by them three or four times. That's a common story in the freight-hauling world. But as a bullhauler, sixty miles per hour is unacceptable. When I started, I was used to driving 60 - 65 mph, but I always got way behind if I was running with other bullhaulers, and one of them would stop and wait for me or I'd have to call for directions because nobody was in sight. That will give a guy a bad rep in a hurry. So, I sped up, and I noticed a couple of things. The first was that my MPG did not change, contrary to popular belief/rumor. The other was improved comraderie. Not because I drove 75+ and was part of the cool crowd, but because I made an effort to stay with the group so we could all arrive and deliver at the same time. Also, the cattle were on the trailer for less time, so it was better for them, too. Additionally, in response to the common tale about BBR's and slow trucks delivering at the same time, maybe it's true in the freight world, but that's bull****e when you bring bullhaulers into the equation. We'll beat a slower truck every time. Speed makes a huge difference in arrival time if you don't stop, and we don't stop.

I've also learned how to condition myself to driving through the night. That is nothing new, of course; lots of drivers prefer night-time driving. However, I was never able to drive through the middle of the night because I'd get too sleepy. Now, I can drive clear through the night into the next day without sleep, but that is something that had to be learned and conditioned. After months of conditioning, I could put in a thousand mile day before shutting down. Obviously, HOS gets thrown out the window, but with an endless supply of loose leaf logs, my logbook always looked 100% perfect. Obviously, I'd have to re-do everything at the office so the carrier doesn't get in trouble if they get audited.

This branch of the trucking industry is very challenging and very rewarding. It's something that I've grown to love doing. A lot of the positives of driving a bull wagon come from the people that I interact with, primarily family farmers and ranchers. I've met some of the nicest folks that live on this planet. Some of the sale barn loaders can be a little grumpy sometimes, but on the whole ninety-nine percent of the people I deal with are just as polite and courteous as a person can be. That's a huge change from the people I encountered while hauling freight. I think it's people that make or break a day, regardless of what happens during the day. If things just don't seem to be going my way, but I encounter warm smiles and kind words, then that just makes everything okay. The best thing is when I back up to the chute at a small family feedlot, and the whole family is there to help and the children are polite and they actually appreciate me and what I do. Where else can I find that? Only in the heartland of America, and only as a bullhauler. Thanks for reading.