Only half a century ago, there were up to fifteen carters in the town, whereas nowadays this trade almost doesn’t exist at all. Carters did all kinds of transport by freight forwarders and horses. One of the most famous carters in Gornji Milanovac was Milorad Ilić Bedevija. Milorad’s son Radovan said that everything was transported back then – starting from appliances, then building materials, firewood, furniture, and they provided service when people moved house… The transport itself was often very demanding. At that time, hospital used oil for heating, so heating oil, gas, and oil were transported from petrol stations. Barrels that contained oil in them had the capacity of 200 litres. An empty barrel would be placed first on the freight forwarder, and then it would be filled at the petrol station. When it reached the hospital, the carter would find some old car tyres, arrange them, then push the barrel on them in order not to damage it, and then roll it further. The freight forwarder is a means of transport – a waggon with four wheels.
There were different techniques of stirring. For instance, when some fine material was transported (sand, cement…) a special technique was used – the horse would be moved to the right, the freight forwarder would be turned over and then the transported goods would be unloaded. The horse had a harness, and there were two poles on the freight forwarder where the horse would be put. This wasn’t a seasonal job. Carters transported goods during the entire year – every day – which meant the job was both difficult and tiring. While working, carters carried containers to give water to their horses, and every horse had a feed-bag with grain in it to eat. Carters only tools were a horse and a freight forwarder. Bedevija changed seven to eight horses in his working life. Other famous carters in the town were Baralija, Zec, Tihomir Svraka, Lazo Vasić…As technical equipment developed, and modern-day competition appeared (lorry transporters), the business started deteriorating. Bedevija stopped doing this job at the end of the 1990s when there was no need for this kind of transport.
