Muck Boots 'n' Slickers - Life of a Livestock Hauler

I'm usually hauling 50-60000 pounds of pure pig

 

You are a brave man. I've driven through a lot of sketchy stuff but running water is where I draw the line.

 

I hauled pigs and was rarely over 86,000 gross. Which is what I was legal for with a spread. We only ran 2 decks. Some guys run a rail, meaning 3 decks (or levels if you will) and they could fit more. We usually hauled 155 to 180 head of fats hogs.
I only hauled 2 loads of fat cows and that was enough for me. I'm not comfortable working around cows. And most places seemed to want to load stupid heavy all the time. With cows usually the pro rate the rate with weight so the more you hauled the better it paid but to me it wasn't worth the risk. To many times my buddy hauled cows to Kansas or Fort Morgan CO ridiculously over weight. I always laugh when I see guys posting here "I'm 500lbs over weight what should I do?" LOL try being 15,000

 

I don't think it pays as good as I should. But it's like anything else in trucking. Some guys know their worth and make good money and some guys run for peanuts. Both as drivers and O/O.
I pulled another guys trailer that owner 5 trailers and trucks. Lots of people use their own authority and just pull someone else's trailers.

 

There was a time a we didn’t share rates, it was sorta an unspoken agreement amongst livestock haulers to protect our interest I guess.
A lot has changed but I still operate like I did in 1995.

You can’t do it based solely on money, though I do alright. In this business there really isn’t a lot of people to load for so you protect your name. Be there when you say, be ready to load and don’t whine about being over weight. I prorate anything over 51k net but with that I also bear in mind shrink and how long it takes to start them back on the gain when planning my route. Many times we show up to load without knowing where there going till they are weighed which means loaded

Putting a truck where it wasn’t meant to go is part of it no sense in #####ing. Dodging coops, hills, curves and skinny roads are part of it. Knowing when to crack the throttle and knowing when to go easy so you stay off the brakes is key. It’s not a driver type job. It’s not for the faint of heart, or the wreckless. I will burn more fuel in a week than your average O/O will gross that’s just part of all night flights burnin cow truck lights.


There are a lot of Johnny come lately companies out here now put any and every idiot they can find in a truck. Almost embarrassing to watch, they cut the rates use the word back haul I’m sure one of them has a better answer for your question. I always figured a man was better off knowing what he was really getting into before he heard the rate.

 

F....me !!!!... your telling me you can get paid for take'n these joy rides ????
I do it because I'am addicted to the aroma of diesel fumes and fresh cow s###
Just like Wore out said... it's not for the faint of hearts..Glad I''am heartless

 

27 looks just like that. 19 just as big twice as mean with no horns. It ain’t all sweet cakes and gravy some days. 2nd time this week I have had to haul these girls.

Boy workin night shift was nervous on who was gonna come get them. Said he was relived to see Doc hit the ground. WTF am I chopped liver ?

 

A clown. Do ya know any rodeo clowns? They gotta be crazier than bull haulers.

 

Your not chopped liver.. your a F...ing bull hauler .....lol..... look up section C in the bull hauler's hand book ... it simply states..QUOTE... when loading or unloading ...#1....show no fear...#2 if you are injured ..no matter how bad... stop the bleeding and walk it off..lol