Howdy Yall

New to the site. Looks like a lot of good information here. Wish there was something like this when I started out....probably never would have started out. Anyway, been at this for 16 years off and on, been through the mill, newbie, truck owner, experienced company driver, pulled dry van, reefer, tanker, little bit of bull haulin', a tad of car haulin'. Look forward to sharing experiences with yall and if I can be of help to anyone, I will do my honest best.

 

Thanks for the welcome. Yesterday I was reading some of your posts in reply to a newcomer wanting to get into "bovine transferring" and you are so right, one needs to think long and hard on that one, definitely not for everyone. I thought I wanted to get into that line of work, and to a certain extent still do, but I'm a lot older now and busted bones just don't heal as rapidly as they once did. There is a lot to bull haulin' and I think a lot of people don't understand this until they actually do it. It's not just holding a steering wheel. My introduction to the profession was short-lived due to unrelated health problems at the time, a couple of weeks with a real pro in Texas. He was very patient with me and I was actually getting the hang of it all....somewhat. He always told me watch out for the ones with their head up and the ones that stare at you...the ones that stare are sizing you up and will nail you if you let your guard down. I actually grew up around cattle until I went into the military, after service left home for good to the "big city." But I had forgotten a lot about cattle and their temperaments.
Well, I'm starting to ramble on a bit, I just wanted you to know I enjoyed your posts and from where I sit you are spot on.

 

I always wanted to get into hopper work, just couldn't seem to get hooked up with the right person I suppose. Plus, no experience with hoppers, but it doesn't seem too awfully difficult to learn. Just doesn't seem to be a lot of hopper haulers around here, or I'm just not looking in the right places.

Yeah, he always told me watch their eyes, if one is constantly watching you he or she is sizing you up. Speaking of stopping to see if they're alive and standing, last year I pulled into a small convenience store/fuel stop in Oklahoma. Pouring down the rain, lightning in all quadrants and closing in. Here was this poor guy climbing all over his cattle hauler, prod in hand, using the vent holes in the hauler for footing, getting the bovines up....both upper and lower, both sides of the hauler. I knew right then I had made the right decision to stay away from the profession.

One other little story and I'll shut up, the same guy that was training me asked me if I'd ever had to help and/or deliver a calf. I had of course being raised on a farm, but I got to thinkin' I would have to crawl back into that hauler amongst animals that despise you, probably at least ankle deep in cattle excretions and deliver a calf! We were somewhere between Amarillo and Ft. Worth, middle of the night, and pondering this, all thoughts of sleep and fatigue went away, and I really started thinking about career choices.