Livestock Data · Transport
Every load, signed for.
Nearly every animal that reaches a packer gets there by truck. The haul is where head counts are argued, weight is lost and papers go missing. Mule makes each load a record: ordered, dispatched, counted, timed and signed.
Fig. 5.1 · Two routes, drawn as data
United States · Upper Midwest to the Plains
Benelux · calf collection to rearing farm
Schematic, not to scale. No real yards, towns or loads.
01Time on truck
Time on truck is money and welfare.
Shrink starts at loading. Longer hauls from sale barn to feedlot are linked to more respiratory disease on arrival. Every hour saved in coordination is an hour the animal is not standing on a trailer.
/HR
Body weight cattle can lose in the first hours of a haul. Calves can shrink 5 to 8% on a five-hour trip.
Source · SDSU Extension · rule of thumb
HOURS
US limit on confinement in transit without 5 hours of rest, feed and water (36 on written request).
Source · 49 U.S.C. 80502 · in force
02The haul as data
One load, from order to signature.
Order, dispatch, head loaded, arrival time, head delivered, the reason for any difference, and the receiver's signature. Frozen at delivery as a tamper-evident bill of lading.
Fig. 5.2 · A delivered load
Example dataLoad · feeder calves
LOAD 0000-0412
- Ordered
- Yard A · Tue 05:30 · 48 head Imported
- Dispatched
- Truck 7 · trailer 3 · driver 12 Scanned
- Loaded
- 48 head · 06:10 · clock started Scanned
- Papers
- CVI and brand papers attached Imported
- Arrived
- 13:52 · 7 h 42 m on truck Scanned
- Delivered
- 47 head · 1 dead on arrival, reason recorded Scanned
- Signed
- Receiver signature · BOL frozen Scanned
03Two-tier visibility
Yards see the stage. Dispatch sees the map.
01 · Customers
Yards
02 · Staff
Dispatch
03 · Cab
Drivers
04Compliance clocks
The clock lives on the load, not in the glovebox.
The US and the EU time animal transport differently. Mule keeps whichever clock applies on each load, and the documents with it.
| Rule | What it requires | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 28-hour law (49 U.S.C. 80502) | No more than 28 hours confined without 5 hours of rest, feed and water; 36 on written request | In force |
| US hours of service | Livestock haulers exempt from ELDs until further notice; HOS limits still apply outside the 150 air-mile exemptions. The HELP Act is pending | In force · bill pending |
| EU Reg. (EC) 1/2005 | Unweaned calves: travel 9 h, rest 1 h, travel 9 h. Under 10 days old, no more than 100 km | In force |
| EU transport reform | December 2023 Commission proposal: shorter journeys for unweaned calves and a minimum age and weight | Not adopted as of October 2026 |
9 h · 1 h · 9 h
EU Reg. (EC) 1/2005: unweaned calves travel 9 hours, rest 1, travel 9. Under 10 days old, no more than 100 km.
Source · Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 · in force
964,000HEAD
Veal calves in the Netherlands on 1 April 2025, many imported from Germany, Ireland and Belgium.
Source · CBS · 21 Jul 2025
05The chain of custody
Load, haul, prove.
Transport is three of the six handoffs between birth and the rail. It is also where most head counts are disputed.
- 01 · READTag readThe calf's EID is scanned at the dairy, with source and sire.EIDsire
- 02 · PENIntakeArrival counted against the manifest, graded, weighed.countgrade
- 03 · CAREHealthTreatments with drug, dose and withdrawal date.treatmentADG
- 04 · LOADLoadHead loaded, papers attached, the 28-hour clock starts.BOLCVI
- 05 · HAULHaulArrival times for both yards, route, time on truck.ETAtrail
- 06 · PROVEDelivery to railSigned count at the gate; closeout and carcass back on the calf.signaturegrid
Case 02 · Livestock hauling
Proof of delivery that settles the argument before it starts.Read Case 02
| Data produced | Decision or check it enables |
|---|---|
| Yard orders becoming loads on one dispatch board | Dispatch fills the week from orders instead of text threads |
| Head loaded against head delivered, with a required reason for any difference | Disputes settled at the gate |
| Append-only load history with device time and server time | An honest audit trail, even for actions taken offline |
| GPS trail and loaded miles | Route replay for disputes, and invoices from what was actually driven |
| Delivered loads, head hauled, on-time rate by driver and yard | The first operating view of the business |
FAQ
Questions
Who is this for?
Livestock haulers, and the yards, feedlots, sale barns and dairies that ship with them. Yards order and track; dispatch fills and assigns; drivers deliver and get the signature.
Can customers see where my drivers are?
Yards see the stage of their load and its arrival time. Exact position is visible only to your dispatch staff, so a driver's location stays private outside the company.
What if a driver has no signal at the yard?
The driver app works offline. Counts, photos and the signature are captured on the device and synced when back in range, with device time and server time both kept in the load history.
Does it replace an ELD?
No. Livestock haulers remain exempt from ELDs until further notice, and hours-of-service limits still apply outside the 150 air-mile exemptions. Mule keeps the animal-welfare clock on the load and the documents in the cab; it is not a certified ELD.
What happens when the EU transport rules change?
Mule logs journey time, rest and feeding per load today. Whichever version of the reform passes, the data it will ask for is already being kept.
Start a project
Tell us how your loads are dispatched today.
Tell us about your operation and what you want to fix. We reply within 1 business day.
Or write directly
juastins@icloud.comReplies within 1 business day. Call or email; what we agree is kept in writing, in your portal.