V O L U M E 2 8
F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 8
M O N TA N A
GRASS ROOTS
F E E D I N G T H E F U T U R E T H R O U G H F A R M E R S U N I O N E D U C AT I O N A P U B L I C AT I O N B Y M O N TA N A F A R M E R S U N I O N
STATE OF THE DELAY B Y U S C A ’ S WA S H I N G TO N , D C TEAM
Livestock haulers represent a small segment of the trucking industry, but will be among the most affected by the upcoming Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) mandate, a federal regulation that will wreak havoc on small business owners across the country. On December 18, 2017, all motor carriers model year 2000 and newer will require each of its drivers to use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver’s hours-of-service (HOS).
PAID
GREAT FALLS, MT PERMIT NO. 93
NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE
The United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) and its nationwide membership of cowcalf producers, backgrounders, feedlot operators and livestock haulers are responsible for the da-
Lia Biondo, Director of Policy & Outreach; Jess Peterson, Senior Policy Advisor; Kelly Fogarty, Executive Vice President.
ily transportation of millions of animals. The welfare and the safety of their cargo is of the utmost importance to livestock transporters; it is their job to ensure that the animals arrive to their destination in the best condition possible. This responsibility requires additional hours of training and expertise, provided by industry programs such as the Master Cattle Transporter program and the National Pork Board’s Transport Quality Assurance program. Both courses offer specific suggestions on keeping animals comfortable on long trips, including temperature considerations and the appropriate length of time that animals should be on the trailer. Livestock haulers must take into consideration the welfare of their cargo
which means avoiding rough-road conditions, slowing down, and being more aware of their surroundings to prevent animal injury. Research from Kansas State University suggests that animal transport should be limited to a maximum of 15-25 hours. Further, the study found that mortality rates double for cattle after 30 hours of standing on the truck. In more recent research, Temple Grandin (2014) found that the animals start showing signs of fatigue after 15 hours of transport. There is no infrastructure currently available to off-load cattle in the event that a driver were to ‘run out of hours’. In this case, the driver would be forced to pull off to the side of the road and wait the mandatory 10-hours before being able to begin the trip again. This heightens
welfare concerns, as animals are likely to lay down after 24 hours of transport, regardless of increased chance of bodily harm in the trailer (Knowles et al., 1999). Even if ‘off-loading stations’ were built to address this concern, unloading cattle in unfamiliar spaces would not only allow for co-mingling of the cattle between lots but also increase the risk of the animals contracting airborne diseases. In the event of an epidemic disease outbreak, it would then become nearly impossible to track the origin of that outbreak and thus provide relief for the industry. The current ELD marketplace does not clearly support the needs of our members. Manufacturers are unable to confirm if their devices can accommodate the HOS exemptions currently utilized by the livestock industry. C O N T I N U E D PA G E
4