Development phases of long distance transport vehicles for cattle in Finland.

Abstract

The development and research work on long distance road trains (transport times of 814 hours) was done in three phases: 1991-1993 (1st generation vehicles), 1997 (second generation vehicles) and 2000-2001 (third generation vehicles). During this time, vehicle design, materials and equipments were improved significantly. As a result of this developments, cattle can be transported for 8 to 14 hours with new, special equipped vehicles without transportation having any significant effect on animal welfare, stress level, carcass or meat quality.