Roadtrain

It's always satisfying to finish loading a roadtrain with cattle and watch it pull out and head to its destination. I love the uniformity of the wheel tracks left behind in the dust. I'm always pleased when I see clean, cared for crates and truck drivers that aren't jigger-happy.
Back in the day before NLIS*, loading roadtrains was a simple task. No reading of tags or checking to see if the cattle even had a tag. It was straight on the truck in pens of 10 to 20 according to the size of the cattle.
What I liked about working on Legune Station up near Kununurra, Western Australia, was that when we were loading roadtrains we weren't stuffing around. Over two days we loaded 16 triples destined for Indonesia. 10 on the first day, 6 on the second. It was an impressive sight to see so many trucks curving around the turn-around waiting to be loaded. I regret not taking my camera with me to the yards that first day as I have not loaded that many roadtrains in one hit since.
When the roadtrains get moving it's a slow start. The cattle poke their heads out of the goanna holes to see where they are going and the country-side around them. When the truck stops for whatever reason, left behind is the poop and pee of the cattle on board in the shape of the crate. People that pull up behind the big rigs at traffic lights complain about the smell. While I was driving concrete trucks in town I would question myself what the hell was I doing there if I got stuck behind a fully loaded roadtrain on the highway, the smell had me yearning to go back out to the station. If we had a slow day at the concrete yard I was so frustrated with myself because right next door was the depot of one of the local livestock transport companies.
So it was a good morning this morning, doing what I love. Loading two roadtrains destined for the Barkly Tablelands area. The truckies were a nice pair of blokes and the crates were spotless. Other than two sour cows early on, the cattle loaded really well. After they were all penned off and the doors shut I watched the trucks drive away in a big billow of dust in the distance. A sense of satisfaction came over me when I closed the cockies gate behind them.

* NLIS - National Livestock Identification System: A mandatory electronic ear tag that each beast must have in their offside ear for transportation or droving. The NLIS tag is read by a reader when either the cattle are loaded or unloaded with the data then uploaded to a national database.



Loading a roadtrain at Willeroo Station 2008