Month: April 2026

If you have livestock on your farm, it’s likely that at certain times you will need to move them from one location to another using a trailer. In the summer months when the weather is at its warmest, this presents its own challenges. 

We’ve rounded up the main advice to help ensure the welfare and safety of livestock during transport. 

If you’re in the market for a new trailer, you should seriously consider Iford Williams livestock trailers. The brand is synonymous with quality livestock trailers and has been trusted by British farmers for over half a century.

As we run through the advice for transporting livestock, we’ll highlight how an Iford Williams trailer can support you and your animals. 

 

Choose cooler times of day

Whenever you’re considering transporting livestock during the summer months, it’s important to plan to do so during the cooler periods of the day. 

That might mean overnight, early in the morning or around dusk when the temperature has dropped. 

According to the government’s guidance, you should not plan to transport animals in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees C. 

Iford Williams trailers, such as the P6 and P8 models have heat-reflecting aluminium roofs, which can also help to keep the internal temperature of the trailer down in hotter conditions. 

 

Ensure there is good ventilation in your livestock trailer

Making sure your trailer is adequately ventilated and has good air flow will also help. Many of the Iford Williams livestock trailers are designed to provide good ventilation, through the use of side vents.

Some trailer models, such as the TA5, feature wider side vents with flaps, which can help the air to flow more freely within the trailer and ensure that your animals stay comfortable for the duration of their journey. 

However, it is important to remember that trailers such as this only have good airflow when the vehicle is moving. This means you should avoid leaving your animals in the trailer while it is stationary for a long period of time. 

 

Keep journeys as short as possible

To make the process as stress-free and comfortable as possible for your animals, it’s important to keep journeys as short as possible. 

This means taking the time to research the best routes and, if you’re travelling on main roads, to consider busy times of day to ensure you can avoid the worst of the traffic. 

If you are travelling longer distances, plan stops more frequently and ensure that when you park your vehicle, the trailer is in shade. You will also need to make provision for water for your animals and it’s recommended that you check their condition frequently during the drive.

 

Transport fewer animals at a time

To improve the ventilation in your livestock trailer, you may also want to consider transporting fewer animals in a single trip to help keep them cool and maintain their welfare. 

Animals can easily overheat if they are packed too closely together, so it is essential to give them enough space that they are able to regulate their body temperatures during transportation.

Guidance states that farmers should reduce the load density of their animals in trailers by at least 30 per cent in hot conditions.  

You may need to reduce this further if you are planning to transport animals that are pregnant or that have a heavy coat or full fleece, which would make them more susceptible to suffering from heat stroke. 

 

Minimise handling the animals during loading and unloading

When you are getting your animals into and out of your livestock trailer, keep handling to a minimum. 

This helps to reduce the risk of causing major disturbance to your animals. Iford Williams trailers can be supplied with the company’s EasyLoad ramp and folding deck system, which not only helps you to deploy and stow the ramp deck system, but also reduces how much you need to handle your animals to get them into the trailer. 

In situations where you want to quickly load and unload your animals, this can save valuable time and help ensure that your animals are only in the trailer for as long as is necessary to make the journey. 

We know that you want to do the best by your animals and ensure they are comfortable, even when they are being moved either to other parts of your land or to other locations. 

With summer approaching, it is always a good idea to refresh your memory as to the rules surrounding livestock transportation and to ensure that you have the right kinds of trailers and equipment to do the job safely.

There are lots of industries that rely on trailers to deliver goods or transport supplies, but the question many businesses may be asking is whether it is worth buying a trailer or should they hire one instead?

We’ll look at the pros of both renting trailers and purchasing them to give companies in the agriculture, construction, leisure, equestrian, and commercial transport sectors a better idea about what would suit their enterprise best.

 

Hiring trailers… The pros

Reduced upfront cost

The biggest benefit of hiring a trailer over buying one is the lower upfront cost. Purchasing a trailer is a large expense, which many small and medium-sized enterprises might not have. 

The same is true for start-up businesses or seasonal ones, as they may lack the capital to buy a trailer outright. 

This money could instead be spent on other things, such as staff members, marketing or equipment, which may be more valuable to the business to enable it to grow. 

 

No maintenance costs 

Another advantage of hiring is that companies do not have to worry about paying for maintenance costs, such as trailer repairs or servicing, as the rental company will handle all of this. 

 

Freedom from admin tasks

Companies can also be free of the administrative burden of trailer maintenance, allowing staff to concentrate on other areas of the business. 

They do not need to worry about staying compliant with changing legislation, and if the trailer breaks down, there will be minimal disruption to their operations, as the hire company will provide a replacement as soon as possible. 

At the same time, hiring means you can always have a roadworthy fleet of trailers, so you do not have to worry about any gaps in operation, reducing inefficiency.  

 

Enables scaling up or down 

A benefit that is particularly relevant to seasonal businesses is the ability to scale the number of trailers needed up or down. 

For instance, a festival company can increase their trailers during the summer months when demand is high, without having the cost of storing and maintaining the trailers during the winter.

Similarly, the ability to scale up or down easily enables all businesses to respond to market demand. By hiring, they are not tied into owning a trailer and all the expenses this comes with during quiet periods.

However, when demand picks up, they can easily increase their fleet, allowing them to adapt to their changing needs as a business. 

 

Avoid depreciating assets

Like cars, the value of trailers depreciates over time. Therefore, companies will never recoup the investment they spend on their trailer. 

However, the convenience and flexibility of having your own trailer may make it worth it. 

 

Buying trailers… The pros:

While there are lots of benefits of hiring trailers, there are also advantages to owning them too, particularly if your business relies on immediate access, a large fleet, or efficient operations. 

 

Long-term savings

Hiring a trailer means you do not need a large upfront cost. However, it can result in a greater expense in the long run. 

This is because renting trailers regularly results in a larger outlay for each trip taken. If a company needs to use one or more trailers daily, then hiring them could prove very costly over time, even with repair and maintenance fees taken into account. 

 

Reliability

There is nothing more important to a growing company than customer satisfaction, as this leads to a positive reputation, which results in more business. 

Reliability is key to this, as being known for always meeting customers’ or clients’ expectations means they will have a good experience. 

Having your own fleet of trailers means you always have access to one when you need it, even with short notice. 

If you hire a trailer, on the other hand, you are at the mercy of the availability of one from the hire company. 

Not only will you have greater flexibility because the trailers are ready instantly, but so are the tools and equipment stored inside them. This means you are able to respond to client demands immediately, boosting your reputation as a brand.

 

Tax deductions

Businesses are able to claim capital allowances when buying equipment, machinery or vehicles, which means their value is reduced from profits before paying tax. 

Therefore, this could make the financial investment significantly lower than you initially thought.

 

Customisation

Owning your own trailer or trailers outright means you are able to customise them any way you want. This could include putting your branding on the horse box, mobile catering van, or car transporter, which would help advertise your business to anyone seeing it on the road.

By boosting brand presence, this could have a big impact on business uptake, as the company gets exposure every time a trailer is being used. 

Firms can also customise their trailer by adding shelving or units that would suit their vehicle best, increasing storage and operational efficiency. 

 

Increases professionalism

Having your own trailers is a significant investment, but ultimately, it increases the professionalism and efficiency of a business. It makes the enterprise look good to the public, increases brand awareness, and improves operations. 

Therefore, for companies that have the capital available, it might be something well worth investing in for the long term.

In any significant construction project, it can be easy for the eyes to glaze over when reading statistics. There can be all kinds of numbers about pounds spent, lengths of tunnel, numbers of concrete beams, volumes of earth excavated and so on.

However, beneath these stats lies the reality that getting a big project moving is no small matter. Indeed, here in the UK, it is sometimes a sensitive issue.

Quite apart from debates about what should be built and where and the machinations of the planning system, issues like the cost and logistics are often hot topics. This has been especially true in the wake of decisions like the curtailing of HS2 due to huge cost overruns.

Most projects do not have problems on anything like the scale of HS2, not least as few are so big to start with, but any scheme will run more smoothly if the contracts, logistics, equipment and planning are finely tuned, something many argue was not the case for HS2.

 

Why Is Plant Equipment So Important For Efficient Construction Projects?

Ensuring the right plant equipment is in place, delivered on time and in full working order, may seem like a basic and standard element of a project. But it is by paying attention to the nuts and bolts of the operation like this that you can ensure things run smoothly.

That means ensuring you have equipment like high-quality plant trailers to ensure that equipment can be transported from A to B in perfect working order.

Indeed, if you are involved in construction logistics and hire out such equipment, reliable trailers designed to comfortably and safely hold plant machinery will be invaluable in ensuring that you can always deliver them without any error or fuss.

This will make the use of such trailers as important to you and your business as it is to the construction firms that are keen to ensure their project is being delivered on time and within the budget.

 

What Major Construction Projects Are Taking Place In The UK?

HS2 may have been curbed, but there are many major undertakings still happening across the UK, with more in the pipeline:

•       New rail projects, such as the development of three new stations on the Camp Hill line in Birmingham
•       The acceleration of urban regeneration projects such as  Thamesmead in London, Victoria North in Manchester and the South Bank in Leeds under the government’s New Towns scheme
•       Planned football stadium developments from the redevelopment of Elland Road in Leeds to a new home for Oxford United in Kidlington, plus a potential 100,000-seat stadium for Manchester United at the heart of a huge regeneration area
•       The Lower Thames Crossing tunnel between Essex and Kent

All this means that plenty of plant equipment will still be required in the next couple of years, even as doubts persist over the state of the economy amid global turbulence and construction sector-specific concerns such as rising material costs.

 

How May Plant Equipment Be Affected By Health And Safety Regulation Changes?

At the same time, plant equipment itself is coming under the spotlight, with the Health and Safety Executive having just launched a consultation on workplace injuries and incident reporting.

This involves proposals to update the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

Among the proposals is the mandatory reporting of incidents where plant equipment like excavators, mobile plant, drill rigs and site rigs are overturned, highlighting an increased focus on site safety.

Although this is primarily a matter of good training for those using equipment and responsible preparation of the environment in which the equipment is operating to minimise accident risks, ensuring plant equipment arrives in the best possible condition is also vital.

If any item of plant equipment arrives with damage caused in transit, this could render it unusable until repaired, lest its use increase the risk of an accident that could get a contractor into trouble under new RIDDOR regulations.

 

Why Is It Important To Have Robust And Practical Plant Trailers?

Of course, no trailer or its cargo is completely immune to road accidents, especially if they involve larger vehicles or high speed. But robust and practical trailers like the ones we offer can help to ensure that smaller bumps and scrapes do not lead to major damage.

Quite apart from this, we provide trailers that are custom-designed for easy loading and off-loading, enabling the simple and practical movement to and from sites of equipment to be carried out with minimum fuss and little risk of mishap, least of all equipment overturning.

Ensuring you have simple, practical plant trailers to transport equipment may seem a mundane thing in the midst of projects that can include big tunnels, high towers, grand architectural designs and major ambitions. 

However, it is in the everyday practical usage of efficient, reliable, high-quality plant trailers that you can play a part in ensuring that the process of delivering construction projects takes place smoothly, swiftly and safely.