"I try to run in a 500-mile radius," Thomas said. "Like today, I'm gonna load and go to Kansas and be back tomorrow evening, and that is mainly what I do. I have been hauling cows for about 25 years."
Larry's employer, Gaylen Murray, got into the livestock hauling business because he already owned a trucking company and he had a substantial number of cows he ran.
"He had a truck that he borrowed all the time, and when he got to thinking about the money situation, he thought it would be cheaper to buy his own cow truck and I was the only one that would qualify for it," Thomas said. "And I have been around cows most of my life. He owned a grain elevator, he owned cows, he owned the trucking department and he had his own cow truck."
Thomas has been in Murray's trucking yard since he was 10 years old -- his father worked for Murray. He was always glad to help rinse out the trucks and do odd jobs once he got out of school each day.
"I love it, I love it, I wish I had cows to haul every day," Thomas said. "I have been doing it so long. This is the only company I have ever worked for. I have been here for 43 years and Murray has been my boss all these years.
"I like it 'cause it is different," he said. "You don't ever know what you are going to get into when you are hauling cattle hardly. You don't know what your are going to get, you don't know if you will get gentle cows or wild cows. You just don't know what you are going to get."
One of Thomas's favorite parts about the job is the challenges that he is presented with as a driver.
"The most challenging part is going down these dirt roads, these gravel roads and getting into these places," Thomas said. "That's a pretty good challenge. If they can get in with a goose neck, then they think you can get in with a cow truck and you can't."
Thomas's list of tight spots he gets into grows continuously.
"The other day, we were going to get a load down this gravel road and we got in and I told the guy, I don't think we can get out," he recalled. "Goin down the gravel road and we had to make a left hand turn. Well we did make the left hand turn, but coming out we had to make the right hand turn and we like to turned them over."
The livestock hauling has stayed pretty consistent for Thomas. Despite the state of the economy, he said it is the season that hinders the hauling industry more than the economy.
"December, January or February is pretty slow for cow hauling -- it's real slow," he said. "I am hauling about maybe two to three loads a week now. During the summer we usually pull two (trucks). During the summer, I have run 3,200 miles a week and run out of hours."
But for the time being, livestock hauling is relatively slow, therefore Murray Ag Transport is primarily only running one truck and bringing in additional drivers when the customer, or the job, calls for it. While Murrays hauls a multitude of agricultural products like tractors, grain and trailers, cattle are the money-makers for the company.
"I am the main man on cow hauling," Thomas said. "If there is any cows to come up, like two loads, she will usually find another driver for the other load and let me haul cows. Cow hauling comes first."
Murray Ag Transport's Matt Cowan has reason to trust Thomas's experience behind the wheel.
"You do not put an inexperienced driver in front of a cow trailer," Cowan said. "(If) you put an inexperienced driver in front of a cow trailer, you are asking for trouble."
The reason experience is such an important factor is not only the driving, but the loading and unloading of the livestock.
"Cows will shift they walk around and stuff like that, I will load them and unload them," Thomas said.
Along with the challenge of maneuvering, loading, unloading and driving the cattle trailers livestock drivers have many laws and regulations they have to abide by.
"Either this year or next year, our trucks aren't good enough to go to California," Cowan said. "You can not idle a truck in California -- it is against the law they will give you a ticket."
"You can't idle in Dallas, Ft. Worth, all these big towns, you can't idle a truck anymore," Thomas said. "So, you have to plan your time, or sleep in it while it is cold or burning up during the summer."
Like all truckers, they have to be concerned with the axle weight of their loads; however the livestock aren't as easy to weigh.
"I am getting a load this evening," Thomas said. "I'm gonna load them out in the pasture, they ain't got no scales, but they fit and they ride good."
However, on the upside, being ticketed for being over-weight will not stop a livestock hauler from making their run.
"They don't make you unload the cows if you are over-loaded," Thomas said. "USDA won't allow you to unload a cow truck. You just take your ticket and go on."
Not only can a livestock trucker not be made to unload their excess weight, but they cannot be ticketed for being over-weight more than once in the same state.
"Not in the same state," Cowan said. "If you go over weight and you get stopped again, it is double jeopardy -- they can't write you one again."
Livestock truckers have a multitude of things to worry about while hauling their loads, but as long as they can keep their loyal, regular customers, the state of the economy will not be an issue. To find out more about Murray Ag Transport, call (903) 961-2745.
