A9 Convoy at Balhaldie From Tonight; Drivers Advised That Following a Slow Lorry at 20mph ‘Is Basically a Parade, But With Fewer Bagpipes’
Overnight convoy working for carriageway surfacing runs southbound until Friday.
A convoy vehicle, leading the slowest procession in Scotland. Photo: OathOn, “Night-time road resurfacing operation during Chatham Waterfront Bus Station improvement works showing Tarmac vehicles, workers, and road closure on Globe Lane, Chatham, Kent, England”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Drivers heading south on the A9 at Balhaldie will be led through roadworks by a convoy vehicle overnight from tonight until Friday, for carriageway resurfacing, between 7.30pm and 6.30am.
Convoy working means cars follow a vehicle with flashing lights through the works at a steady, gentle speed. Perth drivers who have done it before describe it as “relaxing, after the first ten minutes of rage”.
“You’re behind the convoy truck and there’s nothing you can do,” said a taxi driver who uses the road regularly. “So you put the radio on and accept it. It’s like a meditation. But with diesel.”
A Dunblane woman said she quite liked convoys. “It’s the only time on the A9 nobody tailgates you,” she said. “Everyone’s in the same boat. It’s very democratic.”
New surface means a smoother ride after the works are done. The Perthetic thanks the road crews working through cold November nights, and reminds drivers that the man in the convoy truck cannot go any faster, so please stop flashing him.
The real story: Perth and Kinross proposed road works
Letters to the Editor
The views expressed are those of the reader, and frankly that's on them.
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Following a convoy at 20mph is the most relaxing drive I’ve had on the A9 in years. Nobody can overtake you. Bliss.
— Callum B., Cherrybank, 1 November 2026 -
I’ll be leaving ten minutes earlier. And taking a sandwich. And possibly a book.
— Ruth H., Dunblane, 1 November 2026
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