Electric timber lorry trial for Lockerbie and Inverness

The three-year trial will see if electric trucks could replace their diesel counterparts

A three-year trial will see electric timber trucks take to the roads of southern Scotland and the Highlands.

At present it is mainly large diesel lorries which transport the millions of tonnes of wood harvested each year.

Scottish Forestry has awarded £452,000 towards the project which is expected to start in the summer.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said she welcomed the new trial and looked forward to hearing about its findings in due course.

James Jones and Sons, one of the largest sawmill groups in the UK, will trial a 40-tonne articulated lorry from its sawmill in Lockerbie to transport timber to its Hangingshaw national distribution centre at Johnstonebridge.

Scotlog Haulage will try out 44-tonne truck in the Highlands, moving roundwood timber from Inverness harbour to West Fraser and other local mills.

The lorries for the trial are being constructed in Sweden

The vehicles will be evaluated across of range of areas to see if the trial could be extended.

The two new Volvo electric timber lorries are currently being built in Gothenburg and are expected to be ready for use later this summer.

Everyone involved will then share their experiences of running the electric lorries with others in the timber and rural haulage sectors.

Creel Maritime consultants will also monitor the use of the lorries.

Director Neil Stoddart said: "In terms of road haulage, the timber industry is pretty advanced in looking for solutions to decarbonise.

"This is a very exciting project but there are big challenges in running articulated lorries on electric power, mainly on cost grounds and infrastructure.

"This three-year trial will look into all these aspects and I'm keen to share as much detail on this with the industry."