We hypothesized that meloxicam administration to beef steers before shipping may be effective at reducing the impact of transportation on stress biomarkers. Circulating physiological biomarkers of stress were analyzed in a transportation trial between a meloxicam treatment group and a placebo treatment group. There were significant differences in stress biomarkers between treatment groups following transport. This suggests that there may be practical benefits for the use of long-acting non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), specifically meloxicam, to mitigate the negative effect of transport on cattle physiology.