Southwest Jutland: 30-year driver to farmers: “Remember, there’s someone who has to drive behind me”

Daka’s drivers pick up dead animals on between 30 and 100 farms a day. The many visits provide a special experience with the layout of collection sites, but also the meeting with the public when the animals are transported to Daka SecAnim for recycling.

Erik Lasborg is one of Daka SecAnim’s many drivers who transport dead animals from farmers and other animal owners to the recycling plant at Daka SecAnim in Randers. He has been driving dead animals for 32 years, 31 of which have been as an independent haulier exclusively for Daka.

“My working day is between 7 and 18 hours – on the long days I’m on two trips. Then I’m off to put the trolley down, get a new one on and then off again,” says Erik Lasborg.

That’s a lot of miles on the road through many towns. The trip goes around Esbjerg, to Nørre Nebel, Ølgod and around Vejen. Erik is happy with his work, he has a good contact with both the office at Daka and several of the farmers he picks up from.

He supports the message that quick collection minimises spoilage charges and promotes the use of residues in recycling. But there’s one reason in particular he’d like everyone to get good at signing up quickly:

“It’s the worst when I have a feeling that what I’m picking up is going back to nature. On the one hand, it’s not nice to be digging in what’s rotting, but then someone has to drive behind me on the roads. I don’t feel good about that. I can see from the cab that the schoolchildren cover their noses when we drive past.”

But it’s a minority of farms where Erik has to pick up rotting, dead animals. Still, he’d like to offer a few words of advice:

“The animals should be ready for me when I arrive. They have to be perpendicular to the truck, and then there has to be a possibility to turn the truck – then you have a happy Daka man,” laughs Erik Lasborg.

A good relationship with each other

Although Daka’s drivers rarely meet the farmers from whom they pick up dead animals, they have a special relationship with them.

“I handle all pick-ups the same, but I can still provide a little extra service if I know them. Often they see my truck when I come, then the farmer sometimes comes out to me to give a message or something. For example, if they haven’t got the animal to the field, I can wait two minutes. If that happens once, I’m happy to provide that service, it also helps us maintain our good relationship,” says Erik Lasborg.

For 30 years, he has followed developments in agriculture from the outside. He sees both good and bad collection points.

“One of the major challenges is the accessibility of the sites. The places I have come all 30 years, they have not updated it for the bigger cars. It can be both low hanging trees or a risk of getting stuck because the surface is not good, we can only drive on solid road and not grass.”

The driver praises the farmers, especially the farms where he goes daily. Because there is often a link between quick registration and nice pick-up sites.

“The places that are good at signing up, the pick-up sites are also really good. The more often I pick up, the bigger the farm. I think because milk trucks and feed trucks have also gotten bigger, newer farms already have the farm set up to accommodate big trucks. Thirty years ago, we’d come and pick up animals in little two-axle trucks, now it’s three- or four-axle trucks,” he explains.

Place the animal correctly or it will destroy the claw

It is important that the animals are placed perpendicular to the slots and the side of the truck. This is so that the claw has a better chance of gripping the animal, because the claw cannot be turned, only lowered. If the animal is lying wrongly, it also has a different and much greater consequence for the driver, explains Erik Lasborg.

“If the animal is not laid across the direction of travel, then I have to push it with the claw and turn it. And when the ground is made of concrete, it wears the grab down considerably,” he explains.

The teeth of the claw are made of iron, but get worn from scraping against the ground, and if they are not kept straight, the whole claw has to be replaced, he says.

“I get new tips welded on the claw twice a year. It’s to be expected that they’ll wear out, but normally you only replace tips every two years. It’s a common problem among us drivers, but it particularly affects us self-employed hauliers, because we end up footing the bill ourselves,” says Erik.The driver is experiencing alternative solutions at some pick-up points. For example, dead animals are sometimes put on pallets. They can splinter and wrap themselves around the claw, so the driver has to get off the truck. The same goes for covering, where he recommends avoiding tarpaulins as far as possible, which can also wrap around the hoof. This delays collection, but also creates a risk of spreading infection.A good surface and proper covering are essential, as well as the animals lying individually as far as possible, he explains.”Sometimes 4-5 pigs are placed on top of each other, and to prevent them from slipping out between the teeth, I have to put extra pressure on the claw. Then the claw scrapes hard against the concrete and it wears the teeth unnecessarily.”The solution is quick and frequent registration. Erik Lasborg is positive and thinks that the vast majority of farms are “extremely vigilant” in getting signed up.Read more driver stories

Kontakt

Farmers Consultant

Lars Jørgen Nielsen

E-Mail: ljn@daka.dk
Phone: +45 5156 4092
Mobile: +45 5156 4692