Cattle hauling

[Brute 23]

I wouldn't want to get in a wreck hauling cattle for money with out a commercial vehicle policy.

 

[alacowman1]

Your post made me laugh out loud

I did it for a year,wasn't so much dealing with people.it was access and facilities ..from fording the river.,to being pulled out of a lot with a bull dozer ..stockyard sold hogs during that period too..nothing more aggravating,make cattle look like a breeze..

 

[Travlr]

I did it for a year,wasn't so much dealing with people.it was access and facilities ..from fording the river.,to being pulled out of a lot with a bull dozer ..stockyard sold hogs during that period too..nothing more aggravating,make cattle look like a breeze..

People, access, AND facilities...

I can't believe the number of people that hire hauling and have NO way to contain their cattle and no way to funnel them into a trailer.

I had a guy hire me and his cattle were on the top of a hill. The fenceline was off the side of the hill and in the trees around the entire field, so the trailer couldn't be parked in a position to use the fence as a funnel. The best I could do was park the trailer in the middle of the pasture where there was a tree that I could support the trailer door in a position to help. A really poor solution in a terrible circumstance. We chased his cows around for over an hour until they were so tired they were docile enough to walk into the trailer to get away from us.

I ended up asking the guy what he expected to get for his cows and instead of hauling them to the salebarn I bought them. He was a neighbor, so I could have just opened the gate and run the cows over to my place without loading. Should'a asked to begin with. LOL...

 

[Bob-s]

I pay $20 flat fee for hauling (1 to a full load) about 25 miles. Sale barn does it as a service. For my part, I feel obligated to have them ready to load when he gets there. Usually, loading takes only a few minutes.

After loading we BS about politics, weather, cattle, family etc. for as long as he wants, usually 10-15 mins. He is one of the owners. A win-win for both of us. There are closer sale yards but this kind of service cannot be beat. I find it hard to get my trailer out for that.

Customer service, a lost art.

 

[shaz]

I'm setup so my hauling guy backs up to my pen, opens his gates and then runs the cows on the trailer without me there. I pen them up in the loadout lane the night before.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Interesting thread.....pondering if I was going to haul cattle at the sale barn with just a small 6x16...nominally 2 to 4 bigger cows or 6 small ones....what would I charge? I would do a run for $100. minimum flat fee good for 1 to 30 miles max. anything over 30 miles would be $3. per mile extra. That said...who in here thinks that's a good rate? Would you use my small scale service?
$2./ mile won't pay for my equipment wear and tear...it has to be $3.

You might consider an inventory of potential customers within a reasonable distance to you to see if it warrants hanging your shingle.
I would be concerned about being caught in a situation of inadequate facilities and loud yelling brightly clad help . You could expect
any mishap to be of (your doing) . I perceive it as a working from the ears down situation while I picture you as a working from the
ears up operator. It's your time and dime.

 

[Warren Allison]

Depends on who it is, as to how much I charge. A friend or neighbor, on my way to where I am going, that has facilities to load and will load them, not all that much. Someone with no facilities, when I tell them how much I charge to bring the horses and catch and load them, then they usually ask if I know of an alternative. Thats when I offer to buy them, and the catching and hauling will then be on me. I have made a LOT more money buying cattle someone asked me about hauling, than I have actually hauling.

 

[TexasRancher]

callmefence and LVR, Yeah, You talked me out of it...plus I've got better things to do than make a little money for that kind of liability. I would help any friend in need hauling cattle or moving furniture though. I didn't get into cattle to make money...only to improve the land and the challenge of breaking even dollar wise. ..Also to motivate me into buying more land and adding cattle infrastructure.

 

[Brute 23]

I pay $20 flat fee for hauling (1 to a full load) about 25 miles. Sale barn does it as a service. For my part, I feel obligated to have them ready to load when he gets there. Usually, loading takes only a few minutes.

After loading we BS about politics, weather, cattle, family etc. for as long as he wants, usually 10-15 mins. He is one of the owners. A win-win for both of us. There are closer sale yards but this kind of service cannot be beat. I find it hard to get my trailer out for that.

Customer service, a lost art.

That's how it is with us. We call during the week before the sale, say we are going to work them on this day, and an estimate with how many. Once we know they are actually in the pen that day we call again and say they will be ready to pick up around this time. When the trailer shows up we run them on the trailer. They operate the trailer and the tickets. We send them down the chute as they ask.

In rare cases we have left a group in the pens. They will load them and haul them but its not my preference. Its not extra charge if they load them. In fact you, usually have to be pretty stern with them to stay out of the pens if you don't want them to.

 

[tncattle]

Does anyone have any advice on who to get insurance through?

 

[Dave]

I have been averaging about 30 loads a year for B. And I don't count any time that I have cows included in the move. I don't charge him anything. We take it out in trade. I get a lot of free pasture. And my few cattle marketed along with his hundreds. And I have never got a bill when a semi load goes out of here full of my cows.
Some years ago over on the coast there was a guy who hauled from the sale to my place and back. He charged $25 a trip, one cow or a trailer load. When he raised the price to $50, I bought a trailer.

 

[tncattle]

I have been averaging about 30 loads a year for B. And I don't count any time that I have cows included in the move. I don't charge him anything. We take it out in trade. I get a lot of free pasture. And my few cattle marketed along with his hundreds. And I have never got a bill when a semi load goes out of here full of my cows.
Some years ago over on the coast there was a guy who hauled from the sale to my place and back. He charged $25 a trip, one cow or a trailer load. When he raised the price to $50, I bought a trailer.

Snd diesel wasn't over $5 a gallon