A few weeks ago I was travelling home from Singapore and I found myself sat next to a nice Aussie chap. Now, you know me, I’m a friendly chap! So we got chatting. It’s a long flight, around 14 hours, so we had plenty of time to get to know each other. Turns out, his son is a bull herder in Australia.
Now, I know what you’re thinking… a dairy farmer? That’s not very exciting… But no, not a farmer with a flat cap – the Aussies do it differently… Bull herders in Australia travel the vast expanse of the open plains, caring for herds of 100,000+ cattle.
But that’s not the best bit… Do you know how they round them up? Motorbikes and helicopters. I’m not even kidding. Kinda puts our British farmers with their wooden stick and border collie into perspective.
“So what’s a cleanskin bull?” I asked. “It’s a bull that’s never seen a human being before. Never caught. Never branded. Has totally clean skin” he replied. These bulls can be skittish and nervous or even aggressive, and herding them is no easy task.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d never heard that term before. But it did make me chuckle and get me thinking… You see, in my day-to-day life, I come across a lot of people who have never heard of a freight forwarder before. A bit like the cleanskin bulls have no idea humans exist, these people don’t know that us freight forwarders are here in the background, keeping their shops full and their Temu orders in quick supply.
I often have to explain what a freight forwarder is and what we do… It’s a totally alien concept to them. Crazy, huh?
How about you? Have you ever heard the term cleanskin bull before? Do you have to explain to people what it is you actually do? I’d love to hear your stories…