OWNER-DRIVER JOHN TEMPLETON OWNS NOT ONE BUT TWO OF THE BEST KNOWN CUSTOMISED SCANIAS IN THE COUNTY. HIS GOTHIC THEMED 143 WITH MATCHING ZVVZ BULK POWDER TANK TRAILER, AND R730 ‘SUPERHEROES’ TRACTOR UNIT ARE REGULARS ON THE SHOW CIRCUIT AND HAVE SCOOPED MANY AWARDS ALONG THE WAY. BULK & TIPPER TELLS THE STORY OF HOW HE HAS STEADILY BUILT HIS BUSINESS OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES.
John Templeton comes from an agricultural background and farmed for many years, driving Leyland, Bedford and ERF lorries to haul hay, straw and livestock as part of the job. After suffering an accident at work on the farm he was unable to continue, and was forced to seek out an alternative career. “Driving was the logical step as I had done plenty of it already, so I went and got my own truck,” he explains. He started out 15 years ago with a Volvo tractor unit and Fruehauf tipper, subcontracting for T French & Sons, hauling coal from the open cast mines which were still prevalent in the west of Scotland at that time. “There was a lot of local work taking the coal to rail heads or harbours, plus some long distance as well, where we’d run to the east of England to sugar beet factories that liked a particular brand of coal,” recalls Templeton. The coal era was drawing to a close though and the work began to slow down.
Before it stopped altogether Templeton went to look for alternative work and he took on a job hauling cement for a local builder.
