Anyone got any useful information about what it’s like and what to expect etc. Been interested in it for a while so any information would be appreciated cheers
Have a word with Denis f on here he’s one of the mods he will set you right as he does it for a living.
More exams and expense on the individual animals your required to transport, be it pigs , cows, sheep, game birds , horses etc etc, segregation, temperatures , feeding, suitability of wagon etc etc.
You could be hauling to & from anywhere including auctions / slaughter houses. There can be loads of waiting around. There can be easy stock to load & nasty beasts too, & in all weathers .
I had thought about it myself, i started out on agriculture , but oppted out because of the extra expense & red tape too. As with everything its on a five year roll for exams & expense.
Have you worked with livestock before,forget about the driving,any one can learn that
its easier to learn a livestock person to drive than it is to learn a driver to handle livestock
GOG47:
Have you worked with livestock before,forget about driving,any one can learn that
I
green456:
its easier to learn a livestock person to drive than learn a driver to handle livestock
You are right there, if the op is well familiar with livestock this will really help, the driving will come to its own, but dont forget the stock can be soon end up stressed , or knocked about leaving injuries, or worse! If you drive carelessly.
Im mainly used to cattle, sheep & horses, done cattle & horses for lots of years. But not anymore.
Thetaff2:
Have a word with Denis f on here he’s one of the Admins he will set you right as he does it for a living.
FTFY
SCANIA730:
Anyone got any useful information about what it’s like and what to expect etc. Been interested in it for a while so any information would be appreciated cheers
Painful memories here dating back to July 1975. First job in Leyland Ergo (Webbs Brinkworth) while signature still not dried on licence.
Never walk closely down side of loaded trailer.
There are two Gillinghams. That was a very long day!
Don’t assume animals will necessarily trot out willingly once rear door opened.
Still have nightmares!
Did it for years moving our own stock (its why I got Class1 in the first place), I have the various livestock category tickets required nowadays but someone would have to have me by the 'nads before you’d get me anywhere near a skitterbox, bad enough doing our own, sod shifting other peoples
Hope you enjoy a green shower, cos that’s what you’ll get if you’re shifting old ewes around 
and yes you need to be a stockman first, the driving is the easy bit, loading a bunch of limmy steers is entertaining as long as you’re not the poor b@strd doing it.
Im not sure how or if you could teach someone to handle cattle, sheep and pigs would be easy enough.
Moving the dead stuff’s MUCH easier! 
If you can handle the smell of the live ones, the dead ones are 'dead easy!!! 
Sorry, couldn’t help it. 
Did cattle when I first got car licence (that included 7.5ton), so did years ago.
You’ll know / learn VERY quickly, which one’s will be ‘trouble’ and which one’s aren’t.
I found cows to be easiest compared to steers, heifers and bullocks (young cattle etc).
As many posters have already said, already having livestock experience would be a good thing.
You’ll need get used to washing out too and seeing boxes of animal bits in abattoirs
On the plus side, livestock drivers still have the friendship that has gone from other areas and you don’t have to visit RDC’s
The exams are fairly simple ( up to 8 hours is just multi choice stuff) and once you’ve done them you’ve got them for life
Hi Denis f, may I ask you please on the paperwork is says its for an autherisation to last for five years. Now as you are the person actually’ doing’ the job , does this mean anyone taking the exams has to resit them for the five year period or have I misunderstood what it actually means? Please can you shed some light on it ?
Livestock CPC is for life as far as I’m aware. Well I’ve never been told to renew it anyway! Only ever had it checked a small number of times but they are slowly waking up to the fact that you are meant to have it.
Be prepared for a lot of washing out and getting very wet and filthy, and cold at this time of year.
Drive steady, easy through the gears and easy on the brakes. Remember the load moves (a lot!), and that they are live and have their own temperaments when you come to load and unload them.
Be prepared for some quite unsociable hours, especially if you think about going on for one of the bigger hauliers as they will work you all hours when your card lets you. You can get quite friendly guards / security at some places and so you get used to where you can drop into in the middle of the night to wash out / park up.
Edit: I agree with Denis F, as I mentioned about security, the same goes for other hauliers. Unless you fall out with them / they are a complete ■■■, you can generally get on with everyone and everyone looks out for one another. And can sometimes pop into their yards to sleep / wash out.
Thanks, I m well used to moving livestock, unsociable hours & all the sh*t that goes with it, not done it for a few years now though. I know the autherisation lasts for five years according to defra papers ’ 07, for some reason I was under the impression that the livestock cpc was as well.
Livestock haulage… well , you could say its an independent multiple direction moving load of unpredictable volitility!! 
I would buy a protecter for the private parts, the ones that cricketers wear.
If you get kicked by a moody heifer or cow, it
hurts bad and the parts swell up with bruising.
Lots of spare boiler suits in the cab.
Pigs can be a nightmare.
Cows that have calves are psychopathic and very dangerous, they can roll you over and crush you with their heads with no warning.
Never have your back turned to any animal.
Dog walkers have died by cows with calves, the cow can break the ribs and you drown in your own blood before help arrives,as the lungs are punctured by the rib cage.
Hard cap is also a great idea if you are doing deck work with sheep / pigs / calves.
knees are the part most likely to get kicked with cattle, a kick from a calf can be just as painful as one from a coo but its more a reaction, a cow will line you up with laser sights.
A lot of it is to do with the way the way the animals are managed by the folk on the farm, we use to halter train all our stock heifers, Limousin and to a lesser extent Charolais steers can be wild, Galloways and other hill breeds have their moments as well, especially the cows. There’s a very good reason why there’s a feed supplement called ‘Limocalm’
Texel ewes can be hard to get moving and hill breeds like Blackies will bolt over, under and quite often through you when you’re loading them 
One of those padded baseball hats you can get from the likes of screwfix might be an idea for deckwork long as its waterproof and you’ll at least keep some skin on your scalp .
Decent waterproofs are essential.
Arnica cream for the bruises, Teatree cream for cuts and scrapes, udder cream is great for chapped hands
I used to transport live chickens years ago and my Mrs would not let me in the house before I stripped off because of the stink!
bonnie lass:
Thanks, I m well used to moving livestock, unsociable hours & all the sh*t that goes with it, not done it for a few years now though. I know the autherisation lasts for five years according to defra papers ’ 07, for some reason I was under the impression that the livestock cpc was as well.Livestock haulage… well , you could say its an independent multiple direction moving load of unpredictable volitility!!
The transporter authorisation is a five year thing , but the livestock CPC is definitely for life ( EU missed a trick there)
There is a livestock based driver cpc course available just to confuse things ( not done it though )