Day in the life as a livestock carrier for a Riverland feedlot

Woodtrans based in Murray Bridge said his families trucking involvement motivated him each day and he liked that his truck was old school and loud - all the things he loves.

He does not spend long at home leaving late Sunday night once his children are in bed or before they wake on Monday mornings and doesn't return until Friday evenings.

The typical day for Mr Wood starts at five in the morning and he stops driving at 10PM.

"I do five or six hours and then have a half hour break and then do it again," he said.

"With basic fatigue management and our logbook, we can do 14 hours a day and that looks like six hours, half hour break, another six, another half hour break and then you can finish it off with a final two hours and then you're done for the day.

"It's not every day that you would do 14 hours though - you just do what you have go to do.

He said he loves the freedom life on the road offers and said no two days are the same despite doing the same routes regularly.

"You never know who will be at your destination - I have met so many good people at the holding yards," he said.

"When you are carting out of the feedlot to different abattoirs, or out of Nundroo, you meet different drivers and it's not the same everyday.

"The routes change weekly but what we do is fairly consistent with where we go - week in week out.

"We know a week in advance, what jobs we are going to do."

Mr Wood owns his truck, a 2007 Kenworth K104B and has been truck driving for more than 13 years.

"You can't really go past Australian made stuff," he said.

"Kenworth have building bays all around Victoria - we have actually got a new truck coming which will be different because it won't be as loud."

His grandfather used to drive a B model Mack truck, while his dad drove a Ford louisville truck when Mr Wood was growing up, then had a Kenworth and a Western Star.

He tows the crates for the Westbrook feedlot based at Loxton which runs sheep.

"I have an MC licence so I can run a multi combinational system which is obviously a roadtrain and anything under that," he said.

"The amount of trailers can vary but we only do two as that is sort of all you can do over here.

"The system I run is a standard roadtrain with a dolly but when we do trips to the eastern states we do a B double combination which is where we drop the back trailer up and hook an A frame up and go like that."

Mr Wood said he dealt with scalies and heavy vehicle enforcement as it came, but if you were doing the right thing, you never had anything to worry about.

"Most farmers are pretty good to deal with," he said.

"If you're loaded you tend to have your breaks and keep going - you try not to stop too much.

"There are times where the logbook does run out and you may have to have a camp for a few hours but its part of the job.

"I always try not to pull up at roadhouses because people get funny with livestock and the noise of them rattling around in the crates."

He said he would always aim for a parking bay or just out of town somewhere.

"We do it enough to know how far we can go before we need to have a break and go again type thing so all our stops are usually preplanned," he said.

Mr Wood frequently collected sheep from Nundroo holding yards which was stock that had came from WA.

"We do nearly 1100km legs from the feedlot to Nundroo - so you feel like you're interstate but you're not," he said.

"We do a bit into Victoria too which is classed as long distance driving as well."

He said the sheep are dropped off at Nundroo for a minimum 24 hour break before completing the journey to Loxton.

"It gives the stock a rest as it's a long way to come," he said.

"You don't want them on the truck for real long so they get feed and water there.

"They travel well then because they're not stressed or anything."

The trailers have effluent tanks which require cleaning after each trip as it captures the livestock waste.

"We have a big wash at the feedlot so we wash out there majority of the time," he said.

"Unless we unload at Bordertown and are going West - then you'd use one of the local council washes.

"Jamestown has a good wash which we use every now and again.

"The crates have mesh floors which makes them easy to clean and everything travels so much better in them."

Mr Wood said the farmer sets the rate and he would not cart if it wasn't livestock as he could not see the money in general freight.

"I only have little tanks so it's roughly $1300 to $1400 to fill up," he said.

"You fill twice in a day and a half as it only holds 1000 litres in the tanks which you'd work on getting you 1000 kilometres but it depends on whether you are loaded."

He said he goes to work to make money so his wife and children could have a good life.

"We travelled Australia for a couple of years in a caravan and then it was time to settle down because out little girl had to start school," he said.

"My wife does all the home stuff and I do the work related stuff out here.

"I get home most weekends which you don't always get with this but working for yourself, you can juggle those sort of things.

"I miss birthdays and parties and all that sort of stuff but you've got to do what you've got to do."

He said the worst thing about his job was some road users, particularly caravans.

"Especially when you're loaded - it takes a bit to stop and it takes a bit to get going," he said.

"So the last thing you want is being held up."

Mr Wood said he had been first-on-scene to a road trauma a few times in his 13 years of driving.

He said it's something which you don't really ever want to see it but you have to put into the back of your head and keep going.

"It's not real good and majority of the time it happens where there is no phone service especially on runs across the west - it's that patchy," he said.

"You just hope there are bigger company trucks coming past that carry a stat phone to get the message out that something has happened.

"I don't think the pushbike thing coming across from WA should be happening - if you can't ride a bike on a four lane highway in a capital city so why would you allow them to ride on a two lane highway across Australia - I don't get that.

"I was driving at 1am the other morning and there were push bikes going the other way - I thought they were just asking for trouble as far as I am concerned."

He said if someone was considering being a truck driver they should consider signing up to the Livestock Transporters Association of SA.

"You pay some money for that each year - but it's good because they keep you up to date with all the washes not working, road detours and all that sort of stuff - it's handy to know," he said.

"Even if you were a driver employed by someone - businesses can sign up employees underneath them.

"If you want to have a go at truck driving - have a go - there is no harm in trying something.

"Just get your licence and get someone to give you a go - that's the hardest part I guess for insurance purposes they want someone experienced but you can't get experience if you don't get experience."