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The UK’s most northerly haulage company is celebrating its centenary with the delivery of a new Gray & Adams trailer mounted with Carrier Transicold's flagship Vector HE 19 MT refrigeration unit.

Scrabster-based D Steven & Son, which also has depots in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Wick, took the delivery as part of an order for six trailers.

It is the first in the fleet to benefit from the latest generation refrigeration unit.

The trailer’s rear doors carry the message ‘Servicing Caithness for over 100 years’.

David Steven, MD of D Steven & Son said: “Being based in one of the most remote parts of Scotland means we need to have absolute confidence in the trucks and trailers we buy for the fleet.

“The Gray & Adams and Carrier Transicold combination works extremely well. We operate all the way down to mainland Europe and enjoy superb reliability.”

The new 13.6m single-deck trailer joins a fleet of 30 trucks and 50 trailers and will remain in service for the next five years, operating up to seven days per week.

“This is our first Vector HE 19 MT, and it should help us to achieve major performance advantages in almost every area – including a considerable improvement in fuel efficiency," Steven added.

“Plus, it’s around 50% quieter than the Vector 1950 we’ve been buying for years, so it’ll be particularly popular with our drivers.”

The unit also has a fully hermetic scroll compressor and economiser which helps increase refrigeration capacity during pull-down and reduces refrigerant and carbon dioxide emissions.

The trailer features high-gloss impact resistant five-element panels and is mounted on a heavy-duty twin member chassis, designed to withstand the demands of long-distance international haulage.

Other features include a step neck chassis to reduce overall height, fuel saving vortex generator at the rear of the roof, fully waterproof aluminium floor surface and Michelin tyres as original equipment.

D Steven & Son specialises in general haulage as well as delivering gas and supermarket supplies.

Its trucks typically clock up around 100,000 miles per annum, with all routine refrigeration unit maintenance taken care of by Carrier Transicold South & Central Scotland.

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