Beefy Cargo

From its twin bases in Albury, New South Wales, and Oakey near Toowoomba in Queensland, Shanahan’s Livestock Transport has built a reputation well over 20 years as a specialist in moving live cattle across Australia.

What began with founder Dom Shanahan a quarter of a century ago has grown into a 35-truck operation handling bulk livestock lifts from Western Australia to North Queensland and down to southern Victoria.

“We’re purely involved in livestock transport as a family business,” Ledger says. “Dom started it himself 25-or-so years ago and it’s grown into 35 trucks on stock. We pride ourselves on being specialists in livestock.”

That specialisation carries weight — literally and figuratively. Shanahan’s transports mostly beef cattle, with combinations ranging from B-doubles carrying up to 120 smaller cattle to loads of around 60 average-sized animals bound for abattoirs. It is high-centre-of-gravity freight, constantly shifting and alive, and it demands uncompromising mechanical reliability.

The company is steadfastly committed to providing its clients with the highest level of service at all times, as well as ensuring the safety of the livestock being transported from sale yards across the country.

It is therefore no surprise that Dom Shanahan and his family business are active members of Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of Victoria Inc (LRTAV), Livestock, Bulk and Rural Carriers Association (LBRCA), The Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Queensland Inc (LRTAQ).

“With transporting beef cattle, which is precious and expensive cargo, we need to have a good driveline, so we don’t have any axle or diff issues with breakdowns out in the country,” Kade says. “It’s all about reliability with the axles.”

Like many fleet owners in the livestock transport industry, Shanahan’s steers towards Kenworth T909’s, renowned as rugged, Australian-engineered heavy-duty truck designed for extreme versatility in applications like logging, livestock, and multi-trailer road trains.

With vast amounts of territory to cover, Shanahan’s can typically run their Kenworth’s up to about one million kilometres, or approximately 200,000 kilometres per year, before upgrading them to ensure their fleet stays below five years.

They often run 3,000 head of cattle per day at an average of 800 kilometres per day.

With the specialised nature of cattle transport, the Shanahans have deployed a very high front axle loading due to the dynamic shifting of the live animals’ weight under braking and wen the trucks are cornering.

Dana Decision

Five years ago, that focus on reliability led Shanahan’s to reassess its rear axle set-up. After experiencing differential troubles with other brands, the company began looking for a more consistent heavy-duty solution.

“We’d had some differential troubles in the past and started to look around,” says Kade. “The Kenworth salesman, Justin Brooks from Twin City Truck Centre in Wodonga, said to have a look at the Dana driveline.”

The product in question was the Dana D46-170 rear axle and driveline package. Shanahan’s decided to trial it.

“We thought we’d give it a go,” Kade Ledger says. “We put a few of the D46-170s on the road to see how they’d go.”

Five years on, the verdict is clear.

“As a product it’s been really good, very consistent,” he says. “We’re probably two-thirds of the fleet now — or better — running on the Dana product.”

Kade says the Dana brand has proven more consistent than previous options, particularly in the toughest applications.

“It’s doing our job better, especially in heavy-duty work like road train operations and carting cattle with a high centre of gravity,” he says.

“We transport mostly beef cattle, anything from 120 little cattle on a B-double to around 60 average-sized cattle going to the abattoirs and in terms of maintenance, repairs etc. the drive line is very good.”

Livestock work presents unique mechanical stresses. Loads shift, braking is constant and country roads can be punishing. For Shanahan’s, driveline durability is non-negotiable.

“They stand up to the hard work of moving cattle,” Kade says. “We only have to do regular scheduled maintenance — there’s nothing we’re constantly replacing.”

In-House Confidence

Maintenance across the Shanahan’s fleet is largely handled internally through workshops in Toowoomba and Albury. Kade Ledger says the Dana set-up has integrated seamlessly into their maintenance regime.

“All the servicing is done in-house,” he says. “If there’s any warranty issue, we sort it through the Kenworth people, but that hasn’t been often.”

Importantly, the company’s mechanics are comfortable working on the Dana components.

“They find the driveline easy to look into and repair,” Kade adds.

“They’re pretty straightforward.”

Support from Dana has also reinforced that confidence.

“The support we’ve had over the years has been excellent,” he says. “We’ve had techs come out from Dana to help our guys. Our mechanics understand what’s needed and are familiar with the product.”

For a fleet that covers vast distances in remote areas, that technical backing adds another layer of security.

Kenworth Backbone

The axles sit beneath one of the most recognisable prime movers in Australian livestock haulage — the Kenworth T909.

Shanahan’s runs a fleet of T909s, a model Ledger describes as proven and purpose-built for the task.

“They’re suited for carting cattle around and for long distances,” he says. “In our job, it’s a proven product. The Kenworth T909 is probably one of the preferred trucks for livestock.”

Each truck averages around 200,000 kilometres per year, hauling across the breadth of the country. Working with the B-double and road train configurations, the T909 and Dana combination has become the backbone of the Shanahan Livestock Transport business.

“We try to avoid breakdowns, that’s why we run a fleet of modern vehicles,” Kade says.

Their oldest truck is five years old. Prime movers are replaced on a strict cycle, with four to five new units introduced each year as older trucks are retired.

“That keeps our fleet modern,” he says. “Generally, we don’t replace the drivelines in that time.”

The emphasis is on preventative renewal rather than reactive repair — a strategy designed to reduce risk when hauling live animals over long distances.

National Footprint

From Western Australia’s vast stations to feedlots in Queensland and processors in Victoria, Shanahan’s Livestock Transport operates on a national scale.

“We cart from anywhere from Western Australia to North Queensland to southern Victoria,” Kade says.

Bulk lifts are a particular strength.

“We’re up there in the number of cattle moved and in bulk lifts,” he says. “We’re well known for doing that work for our customers.”

Despite fluctuations in global markets and occasional concerns around international tariffs, Ledger says the Australian beef sector has remained steady.

“The beef industry in Australia is very solid through the ups and downs,” he says. “Over the last 10 years or so, it’s been very consistent.”

That stability has underpinned Shanahan’s steady growth and strong customer loyalty.

“Business is consistently busy and we’ve got a good network of customers that are very loyal and have stuck with us for years,” Kade says. “We like to concentrate on helping those customers we’ve had for many years to come.”

Reputation

For Kade Ledger, now in an operations management role rather than behind the wheel, the focus is broader than just machinery.

“As operations manager, I don’t drive the trucks anymore — I rely on the phone most of the time,” he says. “We’ve got 35 trucks, plenty of cattle to transport and there’s always something needed.”

But at the heart of the business is a clear philosophy: livestock transport is specialist freight.

“We’re transporting live cargo, so we don’t take that lightly,” Kade says. “It’s our reputation at stake.”

Drivers are assigned one truck each, with mostly full-time operators supported by a few weekend casuals. The company places strong emphasis on animal welfare and professional conduct.

“Our drivers are excellent at looking after animals,” he says. “That’s a big part of what sets us apart.”

In Kade Ledger’s view, the formula for success is simple but demanding.

“With great drivers, you need excellent trucks, drivelines and products — it’s all part of the whole package,” he says.

“It’s a very streamlined business, we’ve got good cattle crates, good drivers, good prime movers, good machinery, good facilities — the works.”

“We emphasise that maintaining a strong reputation depends on excellent animal care, reliable drivers, and quality facilities. That’s what sets us apart.”

While the business has had great success with its rigs and drivelines, there are still issues that it has to grapple with in the beef industry.

“In Australia it is very solid through the ups and downs over the years. In general, we’ve found it’s been very consistent over the last 10 years or so,” Kade notes.

Road conditions across regional Australia remain one of the biggest challenges, with rough surfaces, coupled with long distances and remote routes test equipment daily.

But Kade says running modern Kenworth prime movers equipped with Dana drivelines gives Shanahan’s the best possible platform.

“The Kenworth fleet and the DAF products are standing the test of time and are serving us well, while a major issue for us is to do with road conditions,” he says.

“We do the best we can with our product and having a modern fleet and well-trained drivers. That’s the key to a good business – good customers, good employees. We certainly have got a lot of those.

“We’ve got one driver per truck with a few casuals that work on the weekends to help out.

Our drivers are mostly all full timers.”

After 24 years in operation, Shanahan’s Livestock Transport continues to refine its fleet and processes, but its core priorities remain unchanged: reliability, animal welfare and customer trust.

As Kade Ledger sees it, the Dana D46-170 under the Kenworth T909 is playing a quiet but critical role in keeping that reputation intact — one axle rotation at a time.