New flagship Scania arrives at Owens Transport 

23/03/2026

Owens Transport in Kilmainhamwood, Co. Meath has boosted its impressive fleet with the addition of a stunning new Scania 660S which has been put to work drawing tar from the Breedon Group's Ballycoolin site. 

The bulk haulage specialists recently took delivery of the new V8 flagship from McElvaney’s Motors, who they have been long-time customers of. Decked out in the company’s trademark white and red colours, and bearing the slogan ‘A Touch of Class’ on its windscreen, the high-performance truck has all the bells and whistles, including a bull bar, splitter spot lights, head board, Volvo markers and air horns supplied by P2 Truckstyle as well as strand lighting, roof beacon and work lights supplied by Auto Sparky. 

“We’re delighted with the new arrival,” Ronnie Owens of Owens Transport enthuses. 

“It’s the latest 660S to join our all-Scania fleet. We have every Scania artic up to a 730. In the last 18 months, we’ve also purchased another 660 and a 540 from McElvaney’s as part of our ongoing replenishment programme. It’s all about providing the best possible service for our valued customers and ensuring there is no such thing as downtime.” 

For over half a century, the Owens name has been synonymous with the provision of professional, dependable, value-added haulage services, invariably achieving complete customer satisfaction through the safe, prompt and efficient transportation of their product to and from sites nationwide. For much of that time, Owens Transport has also been associated with the Scania marque. 

The second-generation business was founded by Mickey Owens, who started out doing flatwork with a Hino. Poignantly, Mickey’s brother Tommy – who was involved with him in the early days of the business – and his beloved Madge passed away within four months of each other earlier this year. 

With Mickey now semi-retired, his son Ronnie runs the company with the help of 28 staff, including 22 drivers. Ronnie’s wife Sam also recently joined the team, replacing the long-serving Jill Carolan in the office. 

“Mickey still does the odd day, he’ll always be a big part of the business,” Ronnie says. 

“When I took over from him in the late 2000s, he already had great contacts built up and the goal was to try to build on the tradition he had established and push things on a bit from there. 

“It goes without saying that our people are our greatest asset. Most of our drivers have been here for a long time and are highly-experienced, reliable and skilled. They’ve all been here for at least five years, some a lot longer. One driver, Eugene Hand, has been with us for almost 25 years. That length of service and loyalty speaks volumes.” 

Owens Transport’s striking white-and-red trucks always look superb, with one of the most prominent features being the conspicuous presence of the familiar Scania logo across the front of their cabs. Regarding the company’s love affair with the Swedish brand, Ronnie states:  

“We’ve been more or less exclusively with Scania for over 30 years and during that time, other than Scania, I’d say we only had one Volvo. Scania is what we know best so we stick with them. They rarely let us down and we’re more than happy with their performance. For reliability, you can’t beat them. If something goes wrong, they are easily fixed most of the time. 

“We do all our own mechanical work in-house and our mechanics Leo Maguire and Micheál Rooney know Scania inside-out which is a big help. We also have a very good relationship with McElvaney’s. We get on very well with them and can’t praise them enough for their sales and service.” 

Owens Transport have always delivered the goods on behalf of their customers and this is why the north Co. Meath-based family business benefits from such a large volume of repeat business. Their main customers are Breedon Group, for whom they draw tar nationwide in Breedon’s own tanks and also some aggregates; Irish Cement, with whom they have up to 10 trailers; Paul & Vincent, to whom unrivalled TASCC-approved bulk haulage transportation services are provided; and Flood Precast and O’Reilly Precast, who they transport precast products for. One of their trucks, a Scania 580, is painted in the O’Reilly Concrete colours. 

The truck fleet is complemented by an assortment of low loader, flat, tipper, curtainsider and grain trailers. 

Owens Transport operates a TASSC-approved bulk feed service tailored to its customers’ needs. The TASSC (Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops) code of practice aims to combine food / feed safety legal requirements with recognised industry good practice and specific customer requirements to provide confidence in the food / feed train. Ronnie’s drivers are TASCC trained and up-to-speed with all current legislation. 

“As a TASSC-approved haulier, all of our loads are fully traceable and transparent. We have a responsibility to ensure that our trucks and trailers are clean, and that cross-contamination doesn’t occur,” he explains. 

While some of the work is seasonal, these seasons don’t overlap much which means Owens Transport are kept ticking over steadily.  

“It all falls into place very nicely for us. When the tar season finishes, the harvest starts and we go into the mills when they get busy. We also kept busy all-year round with the precast work for Flood’s and O’Reilly’s. While most of our work with Breedon is in Ballycoolin, we also draw aggregates out of their Kinnegad site.” 

As the successful family business continues to go from strength to strength, Ronnie would like to take this opportunity to thank his clients and suppliers for their unwavering support as well as his professional team for their hard work, dedication and expertise. 

Owens Transport 

Kilmainhamwood,  

Kells, 

Co. Meath.  

Tel: 087 614 0206  

Email: [email protected] 

First published in Irish Trucker magazine March/April 2026, Vol 29-2