Livestock transportation has a long history and early models didn’t always do the best jobs. Many animals were injured or killed during transport due to overcrowding, poor quality of the trailer, and not enough ventilation. Livestock began being transported in large quantities in the 19th century with the introduction of the railway system. In fact some of the rails were implemented from various locations to Chicago just to be able to transport longhorn cattle.
As improvements were made, cars or coaches carrying livestock were subsequently refrigerated. But once the concept of transporting dressed meat became acceptable, carrying livestock long distances reduced. Refrigerated trucks or trailers have been in use since the beginning of the 20th century. Trucks or livestock trailers have been found to be more convenient, faster and more humane. They also have opened several other avenues, including transportation to auctions and slaughter houses or processor plants.
Many livestock trailers that you see hauling animals are attached to semi trucks. This way large amounts of animals can be transported at one time. Many of them have ramps so that the animals can be on top and bottom layers. Even with such safety elements in place there have been problems when such trucks are involved in accidents. They can result in dead or injured cattle and pigs along the roads.
Some people transport their own livestock to sale barns and to get it home after they have purchased it. They often have trailers that attach to the back of their pick up trucks. This is the most cost effective method if you plan to be buying or selling livestock on a regular basis. There are many models and brands of livestock trailers you can invest in. They can be expensive but you can expect them to last a very long time.
In order to protect your livestock during transport, never overfill it beyond the recommended capacity. You also don’t want to have the overall weight more than it should be. This can result in your livestock trailer and your pickup tipping over while you are driving it. To save money you may want to look into buying used livestock trailers as well. Just make sure you carefully inspect them first to ensure they are going to be reliable.