A study involving two groups of feedlot cattle (n = 84 and 112) was undertaken to compare the effect of two preslaughter lairage (L) durations (3 h v. 18 h) on carcass and meat quality properties. The cattle were grainfed for 150 days before slaughter and had a mean carcass weight of 347.0 ± 25.4 kg. Cattle from the same feedlot pen were randomly allocated to the two treatments on the day before slaughter. One group was transported to the abattoir the day before slaughter and held overnight (L–18 h) whereas the other group remained at the feedlot and was transported the following morning and remained in the lairage for 3 h before slaughter (L–3 h). After slaughter, meat quality was evaluated on a subset of 15 carcasses/lairage treatment from the two slaughter groups. Objective meat quality measures were made on unaged and 14-day-aged striploins (longissimus lumborum) from these carcasses. Cattle from the reduced lairage treatment had heavier bled bodyweights at slaughter (P < 0.05) but there was no effect (P > 0.05) on carcass weight, muscle glycogen concentration, pH_3h, ultimate pH, shear force or Minolta lightness values. Significant interactions (P < 0.05) between lairage duration and aging were observed for cooking loss percentage and Minolta a^* and b^* values but these were relatively small in magnitude. There were no differences in the incidence of ingesta contamination or rumen rupture between the lairage treatments. It was concluded that shortening holding times in lairage from 18 to 3 h for cattle that have travelled <6 h would not affect carcass or beef quality.