Meat+Poultry - February 2018 - 52

T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

Informing first responders plays a big role
in getting the needed people and equipment
to the scene of an accident. Arming them
with a list of industry-based responders is an
important first step.

RAPID RESPONSE

The equipment useful in
an emergency response
includes items to ensure
the safety of people
on the scene as well as
the livestock involved
in traffic accidents.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 02.18 | www.meatpoultry.com

EQUIPMENT ON BOARD
Woods told attendees at the Animal Care and
Handling Conference that incorporating an
emergency vehicle into a company's program
should include: the trailer itself; training;
standard operating procedures (SOPs); and
initial aid programs.
Woods, who has responded to plenty of
accident scenes herself, says while the trailer
itself and its supplies are important, a 28-ft.
pull-behind trailer like Smithfield's is overkill
for many companies.
"You can start really basic," Woods says,
adding that a cargo trailer about 12-ft. long that
can accommodate hauling panels is a suitable
starting place and repurposed cattle trailers
are a small-scale option as well. It's helpful,

Smithfield Foods

52

"We've used everything from old Frito-Lay
fifth wheel trucks to a couple of pull-behinds,"
Searles says of the trailers, the first of which
was 28-ft. long and fully equipped.
Woods estimates that there are now
well over 40 trailers available across the
industry, adding that the beef industry is
falling behind in its efforts. In Smithfield's
2016 Sustainability report Woods praises
the company's progress: "No other company
in the world is as prepared to respond to
motor vehicle accidents involving livestock
as Smithfield." Adding that the pork company
is "the standard for the industry in live-haul
emergency response."
As more companies have adopted
emergency response programs, "We've definitely
seen the reward in more efficient responses,
decreased losses financially and decreased loss
of animals," Woods said during a presentation
at the North American Meat Institute's 2017
Animal Care and Handling Conference.
While Smithfield, and the livestock industry,
have placed more emphasis on the best
practices of transporting animals, accident rates
have declined since 2010, thanks to improved
trucking equipment and increased training of
drivers and the ability of companies to monitor
and measure the performance of those drivers.
"The ultimate goal is to not have these incidents
at all," Searles says, but when they do occur, "to
be able to respond and respond well."

Smithfield's response teams work not only
with its own truck drivers, but also with
other companies in the pork industry and
occasionally with incidents involving other
species. "We all try to help each other," Searles
says. "We've got the units set up in the densest
areas and the highest traffic areas."
As part of its response plan, if one of the
team members receives a call notifying them
of an incident, they are trained to contact and
mobilize the nearest unit and get the equipment
and the right people headed toward the scene
as soon as possible.
According to Smithfield's 2016
Sustainability report, between 80,000 and
90,000 truckloads of company-owned hogs are
transported from farms to processing plants.
About 60 percent of those loads are hauled
in company-owned trucks. When an accident
occurs during the transport of these animals,
the company's goal is to arrive on the scene
within an hour, according to the report. But,
response times depend on the location of the
accident and can range anywhere from 20
minutes if it occurs, say on Interstate 40 in
Warsaw (North Carolina) to a couple of hours
if there is an incident on the eastern shore of
North Carolina.
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Meat+Poultry - February 2018

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