A Turd-Herder’s Tale

Here is a video about the Western Australian livestock transport operation, Mitchell’s, it’s an example of what is the essence and the culture of rural-based transport, it demonstrate these are not corporate enterprises, they are communities, this is a turd-herder’s tale.

I was reminded about the major cultural divide between road transport in the metro areas, compared with the rural transport operation, when attending the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association conference, held jointly with the Livestock and Rural Transporters of Queensland in Toowoomba.

This profile of John Mitchell’s business encapsulates the ethos, which pervades rural transport businesses, in a short video which profiles one of many fleets around Australia, hauling livestock or agricultural products, with the same attitude to business and life.

This video about the 50 Year anniversary of the Marley bulk operation also shows the community which a rural transport operation becomes, with some added looks back into a more confrontational period of history in Western Australia.

The fact of the matter is that in country life, everyone knows everybody, which takes the aggression out of commercial competition. Yes, they are all competing for business and there can be some serious cut and thrust, but at the end of the day there is no anonymity in the rural industry and everyone needs to get along in order for the system to work.

This sector is still dominated by family companies and although there are few larger rural transport operations in both the bulk and livestock game, there is also an amiability about the relationships. There is often situations where one operation needs to take on a task, but can’t handle it without the help of one of their competitors. The call goes out, the help arrives and the situation is usually resolved with a handshake. 

For more stories like ‘A Turd-Herder’s Tale’ – see below