Humane Transport

When transporting animals, cold and wet conditions should be avoided whenever possible. These
conditions are stressful on the animal and can cause illness. Wet animals are much more
susceptible to wind chill than dry animals. Young animals or animals with poor body reserves
are also more susceptible. During hot weather, haulers should try to time travel for night or early
morning. Swine need to be able to lie down if the trip is longer than a few hours or temperatures
are warm. In contrast, cattle should not be encouraged to lie down. Sheep and goats benefit from
being able to lie down on very long trips. Sick or weak animals should be excluded.

When transporting the animal in the trailer, the driver should not only use slow starts when
accelerating but should also avoid sudden stops when braking. Extra time – compared to what it
would normally take to travel the route – should be allowed to compensate for the slower
movement of a trailer. Drivers should remember that it takes more distance to stop a trailer
loaded with livestock than it does to stop an empty trailer.

Pursuant to the Twenty-Eight Hour Law (49 U.S.C. § 80502), transporters need to stop
periodically in order to unload animals for feeding, water, and rest. Animals cannot be held for
“more than 28 consecutive hours” without there being such a stop.71 The stop needs to be for “at
least 5 consecutive hours.”72

Try to provide non-slip flooring in trailers and on loading ramps. Trailer floors need to be
designed to stop the flow of urine and manure onto the roadways.
When unloading animals, adequate facilities must be used so that animals do not fall to the
ground; failure to use “adequate unloading facilities” is considered an “egregious” violation of
the humane handling regulations.73

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published an excellent guide for
trucking swine and cattle. Although it is no longer available on its original website, an
archived version of the guide can be viewed at the following website: Cattle and Swine
Trucking Guide for Exporters,
https://web.archive.org/web/20131117110857/http://www.ams.usda.gov:80/AMSv1.0/get
file?dDocName=STELDEV3008268.

When moving animals into the slaughter facility, establishments can use a “secondary or
alternative entrance” that is different from the primary entrance used by most of the facility’s
livestock. However, establishments must ensure that this entrance still allows for humane
handling. The entrance must be large enough for animals and must have adequate ramps or other
equipment.74

Guidance on truck unloading; livestock pens, driveways and ramps; and secondary
entrances can be found in the following chapter in an FSIS manual: FSIS, Humane
Handling of Livestock and Good Commercial Practices in Poultry, in Livestock
Inspection Training Manual at 6-5–6-8.