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ANYONE HAUL LIVESTOCK?...
Anyone haul, or ever haul livestock?...
What are your responsibilities as a livestock driver?... Does it pay well?... |
Re: ANYONE HAUL LIVESTOCK?...
:roll: :roll:
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I've never hauled cattle, commercially. I've hauled more than I can count with a gooseneck.(Stocker cattle)
Well, you want to be really careful on the curves. Cattle pots are very top heavy. Dont wanna take off too fast, nor do you want to stop very fast. Once you get out on the straight a way, you can pretty much make her smoke. Most of the time, the driver is in the trailer, and he moves the cattle in the right spots in the trailer when loading. Some feedlots, the guys working there also helps loading. The pay now days averages anywhere from $3.00 - $4.00 a mile. Some may be more than $4.00 a mile. That's last I heard. |
When I worked the farm we used a regular cattle trailer you pulled with a pick up... But, once in a while we had to move an entire herd that had been purchased... I never got a chance to ask the driver of the double decker livestock trailer, what he got paid to haul...
That's why I was wondering... I suppose it all depends on how far they have to travel to deliver the animals... If they have to go a very long distance, what is the drivers responsibility for the animals?... Does he have to find a way to ensure they get water, or any feed?... I know the guy that hauled for our farm, had to wait around most of the day, the poor guy... Because the owners would keep him waiting, they were real jerks about that... But, once we got them all loaded, he was off... If it was warm weather they would plan on loading, and delivering during the evening, to reduce the risk of the animals over heating... Of course winter it didn't matter so much... Of course you always are concerned about shipping fever, at least with cattle... One trip the guy waited around all day, loaded up the cattle, and my friend I worked with, said, the guy was only getting $100.00 for the job... I thought that sounded odd, that's why I wanted to ask you folks, if anyone else hauled large quantities of livestock, in the double decker trailers... |
Re: ANYONE HAUL LIVESTOCK?...
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He used to run his ass off, 5-6,000 miles a week, two and three logbooks. Bulls are true time sensitive freight. You have to get them there before they die. It paid really well, but I don't know how well. That was cool. I called ol' Roscoe and talked for an hour, but we never actually got around to the reason I called. Oh well. It was nice to hear from that sorry ass pig f***er again. |
That's why I hate anyone who treats an animal badly... If you don't have cattle human friendly, and used to be handled, that's the result...
They never think about the trucker who's got to haul those animals eventually... I watched the guy load the herds he did for the farm I worked... It really was amazing he didn't get hurt bad, trying to load those animals... It sure isn't an easy job, that's why I wondered if it was worth it to these truckers, simply because it paid well... In what I saw personally, I wouldn't put myself in that kind of danger... The most difficult is in loading cattle like heifers, and young bulls. Because they've just been left to grow on pasture, and are not used to having people around them all the time... Of the thousands of cattle I dealt with, there was only one fresh heifer that was an absolute killer... She came into the farm, and was absolutely terrified to have anyone get near her, or attempt to touch her... She had to have her head tied up in a stancion to even attempt to milk her... She would wait until you got up next to her, and then like lightening just swing her entire body around at you, with her hind leg flying in the air, ready to take your eyes out... They had to put hobbles on her, just to try to milk her... Some how they managed to sell her to a farm that used a milking parlor thinking that would make a difference... I never did find out if she ended up working out there or, not... Usually if you get an animal that is that wild, and fearful of you, they simply send them off to slaughter... No one wants to get themselves killed trying to handle an animal that just wasn't raised right... :sad: :roll: :x |
Ok, I've done more than my share of talking today, so I'll keep it short. Learned to drive t/t in 15 min. with the tarzan zerbini circus out of webb city mo. 5 min. floating the gears and 10 min. backing up. three weeks later I'm pulling the elephant trailer, three female elephants in a trailer. You take up 1 1/2 lanes going down the road with all the drivers asking you : what the hell do you have in that trailer, I would tell them 3 ladies and they are mad. So; my responsibilities were not to lay it down, and that was it. This story does not start--- Once upon a time>
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I'm think the main reason he hung it up was because somebody quit, and my old boss got in a bind, and begged him to come back. He came back and stayed until they shut down all their trucks. Then he bought a truck and leased onto Landstar intstead of going back to hauling bulls. I don't know why. Knowing Roscoe, probably because hauling bulls didn't give him enough time to chase women. Can't chase women when you're driving 6,000 miles a week. |
I haul livestock, mostly sheep. Have hauled cows, steers, pigs,horses.
goats and lamas. Steers fresh of the range in the fall, can be a real handful, some of those critters really want to kill you! because they have had little or no contact with humans. We haul lambs out of Alberta in to Ontario, our trailers are 53ft tri axles. they have three decks in the nose, four in the center and three in the back,our biggest problem is not to over load the drives. What to load and where is a skill that comes after one over weight ticket. our run is 3700kms, we off load to feed and water half way, and to rest the driver. Starts are real important because you can put a animal down real fast if you take of to fast from a light, There is a lot more like why you can not load to tight or to light, not to brake to hard. Hate to stop, so we love to roll stops. you learn to time lights, and the most important if in heavy traffic to keep rolling if at all possible. I love my job I grew up on a farm, and still farm we run 500 ewes at home. it is the greatest feeling when you get to the end of your run and the lambs run of skipping and jumping, you keep fit cleaning and bedding the trailer after each load. hope this helps and rember the bull hauler is one of the few truckers whoes cargo at times wants to kill him. |
There he is! I was wondering when you were gonna show up! :P
Good to see ya, bullhauler! :D |
Thanks, kind of busy one run a week, from sask in to Toronto, keeps a man on the straight and narrow. loveing it, get to see all kinds of crazy drivers, it is a 4000kms round trip for me. so stay cool rabbit and dont become road killl.
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Cattle
I Trasported cows to New York for more money, but that was only once, and I did it for a friend that a farmer. He payed me $45,000 to transport cows from Austin to N.Y.C.
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You said you still farm, and are raising sheep... Are there easier ways to sheer sheep these days?... I alway see at the Fairs that it's all by hand, and hard work... I would think with 500 ewes that's got to be some seriously hard work... I see in the grocery stores here that lamb has gotten very expensive, and you can't even get a good size lamb chop anymore... What do you think is the issue here?... I would think with the prices I've seen that getting into the sheep business might actually be a good idea... What's your opinion on this?... I keep wondering how livestock raised in Canada can survive well? Considering the extremely bitter cold winters, I would think it is tough to keep them alive in winter... Unless they have a lot of shelter barns built to help protect them from the cold in winter... What do most of the livestock farmers do to protect herds in winter?... I know down here, when we got some pretty bitter winter days, we had Dairy Cattle get frost bite on their udders... I can't imagine how they do it in Canada... |
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:evil: Yeah...but he doesn't know what the hell he's stepped in this time. RUN BULLHAULER ...RUN!!!...it's too late for us. God man...save yerself...do it for us. :cry: We need to make a new rule. Only 2...maybe 3 questions per post. :roll: |
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Oh I almost forgot to add. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: |
Red Raven, Yes I am an o/o. As for rates Fall and Winter are good, too many cattle and not enough trucks, Summer is real poor, too many trucks and not enough cattle. That is why I haul sheep. There are not too many four deck sheep trailers about. There are only four in Western Canada, and we have two. Insurance on the truck and trailer is the same as general freight, if an animal dies on a trailer in transit it is the shippers loss, unless it is a very expensive animal, in which case the shipper takes out Hartford insurance. Personal health is covered by Health Care, up here in Canada.
NONONONONO NO there is no easy way to shear sheep it is just hard work. The price of lamb is the result of B.S.E. and not been able to ship into the USA, drought in Alberta and 911, all drove prices into the toilet and drove producers out of business, this flooded the market. Lower prices means higher consumption. Now we have a large market and lower sheep numbers which means higher prices. In the USA the largest lamb packer built kill plants in Australia and brought in lamb from there driving down the prices for home grown lamb. This drove American producers out of business. Drought in Australia and poor lambing in New Zealand with a small American sheep flock this means a small supply= higher prices lower kill weights smaller lamb chops. If you are considering getting into sheep, start small. It is not for everyone. Livestock adapt very well to the cold as long they are well fed, with plenty of straw to lie on. Wind is the worst, that is why we build wind breaks to shelter them. If you calf or lamb in the winter, you need a good barn to keep them in for a short while. Frozen udders come from lying on cold and wet ground., this is the worst in May when you get wet snowy weather. Dairy cows are kept inside year round. I hope this helps |
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I worked for an American Cattle Dealer, several years ago... They simply didn't spend money where is was truly needed. Refusing to build more barns to house cattle, so they would have shelter in winter... They built barns for hay, and wood shavings storage. But, not for the poor animals themselves. Just stupid people... They put more money into equipment, storage buildings, then they would into what would keep the cattle healthy, and well maintained year round... How they ever expected to make a profit, was beyond me... They were minimalists... Take what profit you can at the least amount of expense was their motto, I think... :x Then they would spend a lot of money to have a Vet come out to the farm, to do an autopsy on a dead cow, to find out she had died of pneumonia from exposure, and no shelter from the wind, the cold, and winter... They don't even flinch if an animal suffers, and dies... They will spend a lot of money on medications instead to try to save the lives of sick animals, instead of providing proper housing for them... Leaving entire herds outdoors with little to no shelter year round... Extreme cold in winter, and extreme heat in summer... It is just cruelty, in my opinion... The agricultural laws relating to livestock in the US, are disgusting... They don't have any "teeth", sort of speak, to really make farmers properly care for their animals... A $50.00 fine here, a $25.00 fine there... They don't care... They bury the dead animals in the middle of the night so no one can see what they are doing... Which is illegal... Every town has an animal control inspector, but, they are totally useless because they limit their hours, and offer little money for the job... The state has inspectors who go to every dairy farm, and they're more concerned with whether the milk room is painted white, then whether the animals are being well cared for there... I've never seen one state inspector EVER, EVER, look at the cattle on the farm... If calves die, they hide the bodies, until they can get rid of them... It is just disgusting how this country allows such people to not only own these animals, but, treat them so horrifically, to use in a business they intend to profit from... It really makes you sick, every time you see these happy milk commercials talking about happy cows... The animals are not happy, they are struggling just to survive day in, and day out, on poor quality hay, cheap feed, and poor living conditions... I don't like the idea of cattle kept in barns year round either... Especially those who chain milkers to a milking stancion, for their entire milking life... Only allowing them out of that stall, when they are ready to calve... Their legs get deformed, lose muscle tone, and their hooves get over grown... Some cattle that came to the farm had "Turkish Slippers", meaning their hooves were left to get so over grown, that they grew long, and curled up in the front into these tips... I would love to see the laws changed in regard to how animals are treated that are used in commercial business... It isn't in the public's best interest to be eating animals that were sickly, and not well cared for in life... That's why you hear about all the antibiotics being used on these animals, it is poor living conditions, and feed some times that leads to poor condition, illness, and then the need for antibiotics... You know what is the most ironic situation for these animals... We had one cow who became very ill, she was put on medication, and seemed to improve, then took a turn for the worse, because it was winter, and she was put outdoors everyday from the milking barn... She became more ill, to the point that the owners knew she wasn't going to get well again... So, what happens next... They have to take her off the medications, because she can't go to slaughter unless all the medications are out of her system!... The tragedy is that it takes 30 days for some medications to get out of the animals system!... So, for 30 days the poor cow suffers sick, and weak, to wait to go to slaughter... What usually happens... The poor animal suffers and dies before ever having the chance for a quick death at the slaughter house... You don't want to see what I've seen on the auction house floor... :shock: :x One poor cow I saw was left grinding her teeth in pain, while laid out on the auction floor with an udder so full of mastitis, her udder was gangrene, and no one cared about her... They were just hoping she would live long enough to take a trailer ride to the nearest slaughter house... It is just disgusting... If the public knew, they would be outraged... It's one reason I was upset when I wasn't able to continue at the farm, only because I knew animals would die if I were not there... I was about the only one there who truly cared about, and for the animals... I still can't drive by that farm without wondering how many cows, and calves died there that day... If a business goes under it's poor management, and not spending resources where they are needed... I've seen enough horrors on a cattle dealer farm, that I would never ever, even if I could, work for one again... :x If the public wants to know why their beef, dairy, and other livestock foods are so expensive, they should take a much closer look at their local farms... I don't know how you care for your animals. But, I hope you do a much better job of it, then what I witnessed... If I could have afforded it, I would have bought them out, and done a complete over haul of the place... They all live well, have nice homes, cars, trucks, take expensive vacations, etc... At the expense of the animals they buy, and sell... Though even the employees were not paid, nor treated that well either... :roll: I'm just glad to be rid of them... The only concern I have left for that farm, is for the animals that find themselves there... They are not the only farm that didn't treat, or, care for their animals well either... I went to other farms to help load up animals they bought, and the conditions at some of the regions other farms were not good either... It is really a very bad situation all round here in the US... I hope conditions, and animal welfare laws, regulations, and enforcement, are better in Canada... Honestly, when my local grocery store had more New Zealand Lamb for sale, it was a better tasting, better quality lamb than the American lamb... I don't know what they fed their sheep over there. But, the taste, and quality was much better... You can still get a little New Zealand lamb here, mostly full leg quarters, no chops... I can see why it's all so expensive though, as you explained it... It will only get worse with global warming, and other factors... I wouldn't be able to raise sheep, have a very bad back... But, if I could that would be the livestock animal I'd look toward in this current market, for a livestock business... :wink: |
Talked too alot of bull haulers. Most siad they love the job. $$$ is good.
Tell anybody you know do not drive for (ms trucking out of dallas 4700 irving blvd)!!!!! Mattu and raj are no good rats that should be ran out of the industry. They steal money from drivers. God speed brutha. Good luck brutha. Ask driver antonio they stole cash out of an envelope he left for his daughter too pick up. $100 |
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