It's tough in the Highlands and Islands
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The haulier's life is even harder up here. That's the view of our special correspondent
No dead wood
FIVE YEARS AGO Inverness haulier Sandy Catto saw little future in general transport and decided that he must specialise to survive. He concentrated on one of Scotland's major natural resources, timber, and has now built up a business, Scotlog Sales, responsible for handling and exporting a record 100,000 tons plus last year.
Initially acting as a timber trader, Sandy sold Scottish timber to overseas buyers and contracted out the road haulage between forests and ports. However, the swift growth of the business led to two major developments.
Firstly, Sandy realised the need for establishing direct control over the road transport side of the business. A Volvo F88 6x2 rigid with drawbar trailer was the first vehicle to enter service and it proved itself on the tough task of hauling timber out of the forests and transporting it to Scottish customers and to the docks for shipping abroad.
This experience led to the introduction this year of two Volvo F12 6 x 2 tractive units with bogie lift. Powered by the 227kW (304bhp) 120GA turbocharged engine driving through the sixteen-speed SR62 gearbox, the F12 tractive units are fitted with Volvo power take off and hydraulic equipment. The Volvo trucks were supplied by James Forbes (Motors), Volvo truck distributor of Aberdeen. Ten tandem axle semi-trailers — 36 flats for in-forest work and 40 flats for on-road — plus a couple of bulk tippers for coal distribu tion work complete the 38ton nes gcw fleet.
The second major development was to exercise more control over the shipping arrangements and today the shipping operation, Scotline, offers regular sailings between Sweden and three UK ports, Inverness, Tilbury and Grangemouth.
With vessels on regular time charter carrying the Scottish timber for export, Sandy saw a gap in the small consignment Scandinavian timber market for the UK and he was soon offering this service for British buyers.
His first cargo of timber was 250cum. Today, a typical consignment is 3-5,000cum, such is the growth of his timber company.
Another development is Scotlog's use of a number of minor Scottish West Coast ports for timber export — each being selected for its proximity to the various forest sites. Campbeltown is a port soon to be added to a list that includes Kyle of Lochalsh, Tarbert, and Gairloch.
Scotlog's own home port of Inverness is currently being panded and new berths and s rage areas will be ready for t in about ten months time.
Five years has seen t changes from a bleak future general haulage to a thriv and growing company in • specialist field of timber tra portation — and with a couplE further developments in offing Sandy sees even mi growth on the horizon.
Healthy net result
WHILE DEVELOPMENT in the related industries has slov down on the Shetland Is there are major development the more traditional businesr fishing. Westside Fishermen Scalloway (which is the anci capital of the Shetland Isles shortly to move into n premises built on the recei completed £4m Blacksness bour development. It has just expanded its fuelling sen for fishing boats in the isla with the introduction of a r Volvo F6 with a 2,500 ga Thompson tanker.
Westside Fishermen i fisherman's co-operative set in 1977 to look after the f selling activities and fuel sur requirements of its indivi( members. Today Wests handles around £1,500,1 worth of fish sales annuall' mainly haddock, whiting cod — and supplies fuel around thirty large and sr boats all over the Shetland Is With the new Volvo now j ing the existing Seddon-Al son tanker, the company offe 24-hour round-the-clock deli service. This year some 500 gallons of diesel will be supp to fishermen in quantities n ing from 100 to 2,500 gallons The fuel service has ma( great contribution to keel costs down in the islands r Westside manager, John Si son. "The tankers travel to st eight ports around the is] and on the other outlying islz and while the annual milear not large — say 25,000 mill year — the operation is to' Winter weather, the isla
ads' and the engine operation pumping while stationary on a quaysides means a pretty rd life for the vehicle and iver. But the service is vital to 3 fishermen's livelihood and r road tankers are the lifeline 3t keeps the boat working." The newly constructed Blacksss Harbour, built by Shetland ands Council with financial lp from the EEC, provides a fer harbour than the previous yen used and the reclaimed id on which the new quayside built accommodates a new h auction hall with around i0Osqft offices held over for 3stside Fishermen.
ihe new Volvo F6 tanker was pplied by Volvo distributors mes M. Forbes (Motors) of erdeen, which maintans a rts supply service by the reguP&O sea ferry service to Ler from Aberdeen or, if an lent part is required, flies it in the regular British Airways pht from Aberdeen to Sumrgh on the southern tip of the etland Isles.
3aw-paws, please LEBRATING a quarter of a itury in business supplying sh fruit and vegetables to the astern Isles and the Scottish jhlands is J. A. Robertson & (Fruiterers) of Inverness. The -npany specialises in the often ficult task of transporting pplies to the islands of Stornoy, North and South Uist and nbecula,
landling around 350-400 tons produce a week through its 000sqft of werehouse space Inverness, Robertson transIs around 60 tons of this on a ce-weekly basis to the isds.
ks sole supplier to North and Jth Uist and Benbecula, the -npany faces the normal ilier's hazards in the winter
s the added difficulty of fer ries affected by gale force winds in winter and the occasional stranded drivers who have to be flown out of the islands when things get really bad.
Volvo F88 6x2 and F7 6x4 rigid and drawbar outfits transport produce from the main markets at Edinburgh and Glasgow to Inverness daily, Then each Monday and Wednesday a Volvo F6 sets off for North and South Uist to deliver orders direct to the shops on the islands.
The Stornaway service operates out of Inverness via the ferry from Ullapool each Tuesday and Friday using an F88 sixwheel curtainsider rigid or the Volvo F7 6 x 4 Tautliner. Robertson has its own depot and retail store on Stornaway and two distribution vehicles, a Ford D1311 and Transit, carry out distribution on the island.
Atypical load consists of potatoes, green and root vegetables, fresh fruit and even more exotic fruits such as paw-paws, which go down well on Stornoway. With a Chinese take-away on the island, plus a strong Gaelic speaking Pakistani community, Robertson also supplies a wide range of ethnic foods.
Tight schedules, fresh fruit and vegetables, exposed highland roads, ferries to catch and winter weather off the North West Scottish coast, renowned for its ferocity, can make some journeys "a bit of a challenge" says Robertson General Manager Don Williams.
Above all, he says, "the veg must get through" and reliability of his service to the outlying islands is vital. "High mileages are usual for us," he points out. "The Volvo 88 has clocked over 600,000 miles and we clock up around 250,000 miles every two years on our other trucks, which include 10 7-13 tonners, mainly Ford and two Volvo F6 sixteen ton insulated vans. An evaluation programme between Ford Cargo and Bedford TL 7.5 tonnes' trucks is currently under way.
"We have to be reliable and we look to our vehicle fleet to be just as reliable. I must say the truck distributors up here are very good. Our Volvo distributor for instance, James Forbes (Motors) is based in Aberdeen yet we get a 'doorstep' service from him."
It's all Voe!
A MAJOR INVESTMENT is in hand for Shetland Isles coach operator, Shalder Coaches of Scalloway, as the finishing touches are applied to new premises at Lower Scord just on the outskirts of the village.
The new 7,200sqft building, with ample hardstanding surroundings, will house the company's 13 Bedford and Volvo coaches and two minibuses, provide office space and maintenance and repair facilities and serve as a base for the taxi business. The new, fully equipped workshops include four column lifts, roller brake tester and lube bays.
Shalder Coaches, formerly Georgeson and Moore, was founded in the 1930s and provides various stage carriage services between outlying villages to Lerwick, the capital, in addi tion school work and private hire. Stage-carriage services operated are Scalloway-Lerwick, Mossbank-Lerwick, HillswickLerwick, Walls-Lerwick and Scalloway-Burra. There is a healthy parcels service as people order goods from Lerwick shops and ask for them to be put on the bus for delivery. It is not unusual to fill the boot and side lockers on the coaches with parcels traffic at peak times. Fares, which enjoy a subsidy for the islanders, work out at about £1.20 for 30 Seventeen services are operated each day for running school children to and from school and there are regular runs for workers at the Sullom Voe oil terminal. Average mileages for the Volvo coaches work out between 75,000-80,000 kilometres a year but the work tends to be harder than the mileages suggest. Consequently the company has tended to switch from medium weight chasis to the heavyweight Volvo B58 coaches it purchased over the last four years.
The B58s are now allocated to the harder routes and Managing Director Alan Young is pleased with how well they have stood up to this work and their good reliability record. Maintenance is carried out during monthly checks and parts supplies maintained by utilising the regular ferry sailings to the island.