Bannerman Transport of Tain in Easter Ross was formed in the 1960s and at the present time operates flat trailers and curtainsiders but is perhaps best known as bulk tippers operating throughout all of the UK. Here we see one of a pair of Iveco Stralis units that was captured on the A9 at Newtonmore about 45 miles south of Inverness heading south in May 2016 with what looks like a load of wood bark from its factory at Delnies, which lies just a few miles south of Tain. This tractor unit was sold shortly after this picture was taken.

John Lawrie Metals of Aberdeen has a large scrap metal yard at Evanton, which is 16 miles north of Inverness. Once the yard gets pretty full the stock will be moved by the company’s own fleet of trucks to a ship in Invergordon, a distance of some 10 miles. This picture was taken in May 2010 on a beautiful day just prior to me taking retirement and access was granted to the site provided I stayed well clear of the grab loading the trucks. Here we see a Mercedes Actros and a Scania Highline waiting to get loaded. Since then A R R Craib of Aberdeen has taken over the transport arm of John Lawrie.

W J & J Green has a large farming operation and also runs in excess of twenty-five artic units, most of which are based at its farm at Corskie, Garmouth, in Morayshire. Its normal blue and silver livery is well known throughout the UK but the company also has three limited edition Scania models within the mostly Scania-operated fleet, such as this Golden Griffin (Limited Edition No. 12) seen here on the A9 at Tore some 7 miles north of Inverness. The other two limited editions are both 730 Topline Streamlines; one being a Blue Stream while the other is a 125-year anniversary model.

Also from Morayshire are G A Duncan and Sons, which operates a fleet of six bulk tippers that at one time were all Foden from its Fochabers base. More recently Renault has been the preferred supplier, other than a solitary MAN. Here we see a new Renault T Range unit on the A96 at Allanfearn, which lies 2 miles to the east of Inverness.

Wagon and drag tipping outfits are a fairly rare sight anywhere in the country. Here we capture William Fraser of Gorthleck, which is a small rural village some 25 miles south-west of Inverness. This Volvo FM eight-wheeled rigid pulls a tri-axle tipping trailer south on the A9 just south of the Cromarty Bridge, some 12 miles north of Inverness – a location I spend a lot of time at.

W S Macarthur from Dyke in Morayshire operates half a dozen tippers and remained loyal to Foden until production ceased. It now has a rather mixed fleet of Scanias, Volvos and Renaults. Here we see their Scania R580 Topline Streamline, which was nearly new at the time I took this picture in August 2016, also on the A9 approaching Tore Roundabout 7 miles North of Inverness.

Douglas F Mitchell runs a number of tippers in addition to doing other work from its base near Laurencekirk, which is south of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. This Renault T480 was purchased new and was the odd one out in a mostly all Volvo fleet at the time of taking the picture in June 2016 on the A9 at the Cromarty Bridge.

Another picture from my ‘favourite’ local spot at the Cromarty Bridge sees one of several DAF CF 85s operated by Nairn-based P J Grant & Sons – a long-established business that also has a fuel station immediately adjacent to the A96 towards the east end of the popular golfing town on the Moray coast. This photo was taken in September 2016.

James Innes & Son Ltd of Portsoy in Banffshire runs an all-Scania fleet of about fifteen units. Its livery is fairly unique as the main colour is Harvest Gold, which I believe was an early Range Rover colour when it was launched in 1970. This picture was taken in August 2016 on a lovely day on the A9 at Newtonmore as this 16-reg R580 Topline Streamline headed south.

A Renault Premium of J W Morrison of Strathaven, which also has a distinctive livery of brown and cream, at the same location at Newtonmore in March 2016. Note the dark clouds looming in the background. Morrisons runs a mixed fleet of Renault, MAN and Mercedes and all the fleet have ‘Eye of the Tiger’ on the front.

Richard Fraser of Munlochy operates three artic units undertaking a mixture of bulk tipping and heavy haulage in addition to running a number of rigid tippers and cement mixers alongside a good number of diggers on civil engineering and demolition work. Being located only 5 miles from my home, I know the business well and here we see its driver, James, with his 59-reg ex D Steven & Son of Wick Scania R620 Topline, now on a private registration number.

Moy lies 12 miles to the south of Inverness and is where we catch this immaculate-looking Volvo FH13 Globetrotter from the all-Volvo fleet of Alex Anderson of Bo’ness in Fife, which is a sawdust and wood chip processor. Note the very traditional livery and generous use of lining out the panels. Andersons also owns a sizeable collection of classic lorries, all of which it operated at one time.

This time I am much further south in June 2015 – on the M74 at Abington we catch this Volvo FH13 540 Globetrotter XL of J G McWilliam of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, which has an attractive pale blue livery nicely adorned by a tartan sash and proudly wearing two Scottish flags.

Campbell of Carstairs in Lanarkshire is perhaps best known for operating fridge trailers but it also undertakes bulk tipping, as seen here on the A66. This is a very smart-looking Scania V8 Topline tag axle unit heading west about 6 miles from Penrith having just bypassed Temple Sowerby. Occasionally we have to visit England in order to catch some of the more south of Scotland-based operators. This picture was taken in May 2014.

McCallum Haulage of Muir of Ord in Ross-shire runs four DAF artic motors on general and bulk-tipping work, the name on the front says ‘The Real McCallum’. This DAF XF 105 510 Euro 6 Super Space Cab model was the newest on fleet when seen in September 2016 on the A9 at the Cromarty Bridge.

The same location just south of the Cromarty Bridge on the A9 captures one of a few local female drivers, this being Lesley Mackenzie in the MAN TGX she drives for Scotbark, a bark and landscaping supplies specialist. Here we see her pulling a walking floor trailer.

Campbell & Sons of Ardgay in the county of Sutherland operates a couple of Volvo artic tippers, one of which is seen here in September 2016 on the A9 at the Cromarty Bridge.

Tore Services is 7 miles north of Inverness and is operated by the Bannerman Group. As this site is easier to visit than any of the fuel filling stations in Inverness it is a busy location and here we have a Mercedes Actros, the only artic unit operated by Lochbroom Bulk Transport of Ullapool, about to fuel up with diesel and AdBlue. Ullapool lies some 50 miles away on the west coast of Scotland.

Talking of the west coast, the small township of Poolewe in Wester Ross in the north-west Highlands of Scotland lies 75 miles north-west of Inverness from where Christie MacDonald hails and runs three artics mostly on bulk-tipping work in addition to some flat trailer work. Here we see his Scania R580 Topline Streamline on the A9 at the Cromarty Bridge.