Dear Cattle Transporters,

Welcome to this Master Cattle Transporter training program. As a transporter, you play a critical role in the health and welfare of the cattle we raise The proper handling and transport of cattle can reduce sickness in calves, prevent bruises, and improve the quality of the meat from these animals. By using best practices, you and other transporters literally save the beef cattle industry millions, if not billions of dollars each year.

Participation in this Master Cattle Transporter program is one way to show your customers that you are ready to take every step possible to keep their cattle as healthy and safe as possible.  This training will cover properly moving cattle up to and on to the trailer, distributing cattle correctly on the trailer, hauling techniques that reduce cattle stress, and handling emergency situations  This training consists of a manual that we hope you will keep in your glove box and refer to often, and a 45-minute long video training on a DVD disc.

On behalf of the over 800,000 cattle raisers in the United States, I would like to express my appreciation to the vital work you do in delivering cattle safely to their destination.  You are a critical link to our Beef Quality Assurance program.  Moreover, we appreciate you joining us in meeting our goal of providing high quality and safe beef to the consumer.

Many volunteer hours have gone into developing this program to provide you the best training possible.  I would like to thank the animal handling and transport consultants, producers, auction operators, feedyard managers, pack representative and university friends who have shared their time and insight with us in the production of the manual and DVD.

Again, thank you for participating.

Sincerely,
Ran Smith, DVM,

Chairman, National Beef Quality Assurance Advisory Board