Transporting Livestock: The dangers of trailer sway and why training is beneficial when moving animals

Transporting livestock on short or long journeys: Quick Summary

• If you wish to transport any livestock, including poultry or game birds, you must have an animal transport Certificate of Competence.

• This will either be a Short Journey Certificate (up to 8 hours travel) or a Long Journey Certificate (over 8 hours)

• Training is extremely helpful, as livestock transportation is full of risk without the proper guidance

• A poorly loaded trailer can result in severe trailer sway and accidents

• Trailer sway comes down to three things:

  • Poor loading

  • Wrong tyre pressure

  • Too much speed

Hush Farms Training can provide both short and long journey animal transport Certificates of Competence.  To find out more about our training, click here.

The risks involved in transporting livestock

Moving animals between fields or locations should be a simple process.  Taking them to market, or delivery after a sale, shouldn’t be an activity fraught with risk.  There are, however, a series of random factors that can affect the success of our journey every time we load our livestock on the back of a trailer and set off down the road.

1.     The weather, the season and the temperature

2.     The animals, their size, weight and general temperament

3.     The condition of our trailer

4.     Driver knowledge and experience

Without the right training or experience, each of these elements can turn our simple journey into a disaster!  This is why HSE and APHA have mandated that anyone moving their livestock, whether it’s a short journey or a long one, should complete an animal transport Certificate of Competence before loading their animals.

Experience doesn’t mean compliance when transporting animals

Recently our family stepped in to help a neighbour who had had an accident while towing a trailer full of cattle.  We found the trailer on its side with the 4x4 lifted in the air; it contained a cow and small calf in the front with a big bull in the back.  Luckily, no one involved in the accident, including the cattle, was hurt!

Incorrect weight distribution had led to the trailer swaying dramatically, catching the side of the 4x4, then catapulting it into the hedge, dragging the 4x4 with it.  The driver was a smallholder with experience, but there were several issues here that training and certification would have rectified:

1. The tyre pressure was inadequate for the weight of the animals in the trailer

2. The positioning of the bull in the back of the trailer was incorrect for load distribution

3. The speed of the 4x4 would have contributed to the start of the trailer sway

The incident occurred very quickly, but it had already been determined from the moment the animals were loaded, without the correct checks being made on the setup.

This incident is not likely to have occurred if the driver had completed Hush Farm’s Short Journey or Long Journey Animal Transport Certificates of Competence.

What causes trailer sway?

Driving with a fully loaded trailer is a task that requires planning, training and skill.  We’ve all seen trailers being reversed awkwardly, and there is nothing more awful than seeing a fully loaded trailer begin to show the ominous signs of snaking and swaying.  It isn’t just full trailers either, the speed at which an empty trailer can lose control is astonishing, and something many operators forget to consider.

The causes of trailer sway are quite easy to understand, but training provides the skills required to identify and rectify these issues before setting out.  A trailer will begin to sway because of the three things mentioned above: speed, weight and tyre pressure.

A trailer can be well within the legal weight limits and not be technically overloaded but will still be dangerous to drive.  This is because of the way weight affects stability at speed.  If heavy weight is in the wrong place, say the rear of the trailer, then it will negatively affect stability, and the faster the trailer goes, the faster the stability begins to disappear and trailer swaying takes over.  This will be compounded by the fact that animals move!  A bull, calf and cow won’t stay still during the journey, and this means the weight distribution is always changing in the vehicle.

The other factor that will remove stability is tyre pressure.  The tyres are the trailer's only contact with the ground, so the pressure needs to be appropriate for the weight being carried.  Too high and there is a serious risk of blowout whenever a pothole (of which we have plenty!) or a rut hits the tyres; too low and there isn’t enough grip to prevent snaking and swaying.

All of these factors are included in a Towing Awareness Session, and could be avoided with the right preparation and planning.

What are the repercussions of an accident involving trailer sway?

The Health and Safety Executive in 2008 legislated that ANY journey over 60km/40 miles involving animals (after point of loading) – whether that’s horses, pigs, cattle, goats and sheep or poultry and game birds – should only be conducted by someone who has completed the short journey or long journey animal transport Certificate of Competence.

The certificate must be completed PER SPECIES being transported, so if you are moving cattle, but your certificate is only for sheep, then you aren’t compliant and could face severe penalties if you have an accident.

If you are moving animals and the journey is under 8 hours, then you will need to complete the Short Journey Welfare of Animals in Transit course, and if it is over 8 hours then you should complete the Long Journey course. 

If you are audited by HSE and found to be non-compliant, then you may be prosecuted under the Animal Transportation Regulations – which are now nearly 20 years old, so there’s no excuse for not being certified.

Hush Farms’ livestock transportation training courses

Our training courses are really convenient and offer easy ways to ensure you are compliant and certified BEFORE setting out with your trailer.  We offer both in-person and online training for the short journey course, at your site or one of ours in Devon or Wales. The long journey course, should take place using your vehicle and animals.

Although the certification is per species, the training doesn’t need to be onerous.  A training candidate can complete the assessments for all five farm animal species for a single price.  With successful completion resulting in a LANTRA certification in Animal Transport (NPTC equivalent is also available).

Click here for our Short Journey livestock transportation training.

The Animal Transport Certificate of Competence, trailer sway and livestock transportation

An avoidable accident is just the start of the headaches for our neighbour.  The HSE investigation that may well follow, the police and Road Safety Act, the questions on compliance, plus the cost of repair to the 4x4 and the trailer, will all now get in the way of a good day’s farming.

Taking the time to train, get certified and lean on our expertise is a cost-effective and easy way to ensure you’re compliant before you have an accident or an audit.  Stay safe, folks.

Livestock Transport Training: Frequently Asked Questions

Can a trailer start to sway even if you’re driving within the speed limit?

If two of the three causes of trailer sway, poor weight loading and incorrect tyre pressures, are present, then speed will have an increased impact on trailer stability.  A rural road speed of 60mph, with the classic twists and turns we experience while driving through farming areas, will be more than adequate to create trailer sway that may be impossible to recover.

Does the livestock transportation training cover the vehicle and trailer or just the driver?

The vehicle and trailer will require a separate certificate of approval before being compliant for livestock transport.  The short and long journey certificates cover the driver and attendant, not the vehicles or equipment. Vehicles (Higher Standard Vehicles) used for a Long Journey must have completed the relevant test.

It’s important to be clear about the distinction between the animal transport certificate and a certificate of competence for short or long livestock journeys.  The animal transport certificate, also known as the movement license is the paperwork which is necessary for short or long livestock journeys.  Completing the training will accredit the driver or an attendant (depending on who completed the course) with a certificate of competence, bringing them into compliance with HSE regulations.

Who is responsible for animal transportation rules on highways?  Is it the HSE, APHA or the Police?

Animal Health Inspectors and Trading Standards have the powers to check authorisations and certificates while you are travelling on the road.  HSE will become involved if there are workplace safety failures because of inadequate training or non-compliance with regulations.  The police will enforce the Road Traffic Act and will be interested in the vehicle’s roadworthiness and the quality of the driving.  So there are three organisations that will be interested in your business if you are found non-compliant or fail to meet regulations!