Summary
The author outlines the design of road vehicles for the long distance transport of livestock, mainly cattle, which are used in the tropical and sub-Mediterranean climatic regions of Australia and which have been engineered to meet animal welfare principles. Over 50% of journeys exceed 500 km. Journeys of 2 000 to 3 000 km do occur and involve the resting of animals once or twice during the journey. Specialised vehicles, known as 'road trains', are employed and these consist of multiple trailers with multi-deck containers or stock crates for animals, which are hauled by a prime mover or tractor. The starting point for design is safety for both people and animals and the need to preserve transport infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The move to volume livestock loading, where livestock are loaded according to the volume they occupy rather than their weight, was a major early breakthrough. Details are given of the design of vehicles and loading facilities. Vehicle design includes suspensions and the floors, interior walls, doors, partitions and penning, deck supports and arrangements for through loading of stock crates. Loading and unloading ramps can be a major source of stress and standardised heights have been adopted in Australia.