Stocking density affected none of the meat quality characteristics directly but there werestrong interactions (p < 0 . 001) between stocking density and day for all characteristics with the exception of MQM-value in BF (Table 2). MQM-values in LD were higher on the second transport for O-35 and O-39 but lower for 0.42m2. There was no difference between days for O-50 m2 (Table 3). For a stocking density of 0.35 m2 ultimate pH-values were lower on the second transport than on the first and for 0.42 m2 the opposite was the case