THE ROLE OF THE DRIVER/OPERATOR

Did you know that truck drivers have an important role in day-old chick transport? And, that they can help you to improve the transport performance of your hatchery? Good drivers take care of their truck and the live animals on board, which improves farm delivery performance.

Hatcheries aim to deliver good-quality day-old chicks in high numbers and good hygiene. Because hatcheries are not only responsible for the quality at the time of delivery, but also for possible losses in the first week, they need to pay close attention to the transport part as well. In our experience, chick transport still doesn’t get the attention it deserves in terms of specialized transport equipment and/or skilled day-old chick truck drivers. Using a well-trained truck driver is a potential to boost your farm delivery performance.

Let’s focus on the role of the day-old chick transport truck driver. The best drivers take care of the animals left in their charge, have a good understanding of their work and equipment, give feedback to the hatchery, and communicate well with the customers. Therefore, in our philosophy, a driver who gets professional training can be seen as a driver-operator. And, they can even rise to the higher level of an ambassador of the hatchery who helps to increase your customer satisfaction.

It can be difficult to find good drivers because working conditions for truck drivers can be tough.
In the summer season, they often have to drive during the night because their equipment is unable to cope with hot conditions during the day. Being held responsible for the chick quality at arrival is a part of the job for well-trained drivers, but can be very stressful for untrained drivers. After a long trip, and return to the hatchery, they are expected to clean the truck as well.

Improvement can be made by implementing:

1. Education in professional day-old chick transport for your drivers and technical staff
2. Preventive support from the transport manager and/or technicians
3. A well-prepared truck: cleaned, disinfected, fueled up and pre-heated or -cooled
4. Clear loading and unloading instructions, and a logical loading plan
5. Periodic driver team meetings to evaluate deliveries and transport, and share experiences
6. Monitoring by Track & Trace

The team challenge is to deliver the highest quality day-old chicks. Based on years of know-how and feedback about driver training at Heering, we recommend that you support your truck drivers in the best possible way. Committed drivers with peace of mind will improve your farm delivery performance, and therefore, have an important role in day-old chick transport.

To operate at full potential, it’s imperative that drivers receive the support they need to excel at their job. At Heering, we provide the education and equipment that ensures truck drivers you can trust with your livestock.

Just contact us to find out how our training methods can improve the knowlegde of your drivers.

Interested?