ETS is neat but annoys me solely because the speed limit is so damn slow on the continent. Also most of the cool shit is on the edges of the map (spain, italy, Turkey, Scandinavia) so you’re consantly having to make the slow ass trip through Germany to get places.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Tooling around in Wyoming and Goddamn does the new lighting system look good.
It's been ages since I've seen a cabover truck, but cool that they have them available in the game. I wouldn't want to have one in real life, but the classic look in a video game is very nice.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
It's been ages since I've seen a cabover truck, but cool that they have them available in the game. I wouldn't want to have one in real life, but the classic look in a video game is very nice.
The 'Cab Over Engine' design style was popular in the US in the past due to length restrictions on the size of a truck and trailer (a shorter truck means you can haul a longer trailer with more stuff in it). They added 10 feet to the length limit in the 70s, so "standard" truck styles took over not long afterward.
Standard truck designs are significantly more aerodynamic than a cabover (which has the aero profile of a brick), which leads to better fuel economy. They also have much more living space inside of the cab, and they are quieter (due to the driver not being placed directly above the engine). Cabovers still have benefits, though - the driver sits higher off of the road, which gives them better visibility, but the biggest benefit is that the much shorter wheelbase makes the trucks extremely maneuverable. This is a major benefit on thin and windy roads, or inside cramped, busy cities, and its why why cabovers are still very popular in Europe.
I know that cabovers were less aerodynamic with less cab space and more noise while driving, but I hadn't considered the benefits of maneuverability and better driver vision. Though I have heard that maintenance on a cabover is kind of a huge hassle because (at least from what I've seen) the way they got access to the engine was by tilting the entire cab forward with all the associated issues that come with that.
Fire Engines are the same way, but even more extreme because their cabs tend to be much larger (due to having more passenger space). In a traditional style truck I guess you could take a nap or something while its being worked on, not so much with a cabover.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
When I switched to a cabover in ATS I kept stopping short because I was so used to having such a long nose. I turned in too early too. You really can go way farther into a turn before turning in a cabover, it feels like you're going to hit stuff but you dont.
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Another shot! I swear I've seen more rain in Wyoming than I ever did when Oregon came out. Seems like every other day is a downpour I turned down the rain slider even more. It was on around 20%, I set it down to 15%. Thank goodness you can adjust weather in the camera settings.
Version 1.42 is out for both American Truck Simulator as well as Euro Truck Simulator 2, it has some Force Feedback improvements but the biggest new change is that mods are now able to be used in Convoy Mode. Classic trucks, different paintjobs, new trailers, the works.
Every player in the server has to have the same mods installed, but if you want to join a Convoy that is running mods that you don't have installed than the game will tell you exactly which mods you need, and if they are on the Steam workshop you'll be able to open it and download them without having to leave the game. Part of the reason I never got too deep into mods was because they weren't compatible with Convoy Mode, so this is a pretty cool update.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Version 1.42 is out for both American Truck Simulator as well as Euro Truck Simulator 2, it has some Force Feedback improvements but the biggest new change is that mods are now able to be used in Convoy Mode. Classic trucks, different paintjobs, new trailers, the works.
Every player in the server has to have the same mods installed, but if you want to join a Convoy that is running mods that you don't have installed than the game will tell you exactly which mods you need, and if they are on the Steam workshop you'll be able to open it and download them without having to leave the game. Part of the reason I never got too deep into mods was because they weren't compatible with Convoy Mode, so this is a pretty cool update.
Fuck yea! I'm down for running a modded convoy. I love my K100.
So I picked up American Truck Simulator with the Pacific Northwest bundle on sale, and a buddy of mine did the same. We plan to convoy as our schedules permit, and I have completed the tutorial delivery after choosing a San Francisco starting point. I invested my first skill point into distance based on a guide I found online, any tips for newbies to help us get started hauling freight?
I prioritized distance simply because you are very handicapped without it. That said, you don't have to max it, because there are only so many states in the game right now.
Fuel economy never hurts, especially if you're sticking with a shorter truck for better visibility/maneuverability.
It's worth dropping a single point into the various special delivery types (fragile, express, etc) solely to unlock these jobs and give yourself more options for loads.
The San Francisco garage is a huge pain in the ass to get out of, there is almost constant traffic during the day and you have a good chance of getting rocked by god awful California drivers (this is a sim after all), so be very careful pulling out. The good news is there is a Volvo dealer right down the road, so if you need repairs or upgrades its a short trip. Also, you're literally right around the corner from an auto dealership, and hauling cars is pretty easy (they are relatively light and the trailers aren't too long). Be careful on some of the San Francisco hills though, the majority of the time you're gonna be taking the Bay Bridge east out of town, and that climb is a killer if your engine/tranny aren't strong.
Shop around for your first truck, horsepower and torque are important, as is fuel tank size. All of these can be upgraded of course, but you don't want to kneecap yourself right out of the gate. Aesthetics are also critical, styling all over other trucks on the road is half of the game.
Going into debt isn't a horrible idea, financing a truck and hiring a driver will put you deep in the red but if you prioritize your driver's training for long distance, before long they will be generating more income per day than your daily loan payments cost (meaning they are basically making your loan payments for you). Once you get your loans knocked down a bit you can rinse and repeat. The interest rates aren't great on bigger loans, but you gotta spend money to make money.
Also, turn off driver fatigue, it's dumb.
In convoy mode, if you and your partner are not near each other one of you can take a job, and then the other one can pull up the menu and click on their partner's name, and there will be an option to fast travel to the nearest town and take the same job. This is an easy way to link up if you guys were playing singleplayer and are on opposite sides of the map.
So I absolutely loved the truck I just drove, which was apparently a Peterbilt 579 Hi Rise Sleeper with plenty of power and what seemed like a decent size fuel tank. The internet says that truck costs about $170k, so I'd have to take out over $100k in loans right now to afford it. I'm going to guess that once you have your own truck a whole bunch of different options open up that presumably pay a good chunk more, so I don't think having a $100k loan would be too awful so I might purchase that truck after I finish up one more job. Can you pay off loans early or are you forced to pay at the given rate?
How does hiring a driver work? Do they use the truck you bought and then you have to keep taking quick jobs? I would think unless you have two trucks that would have to be the case, it would be silly if you could both use the same truck. I've personally got 1000 mile hauls unlocked and that seems fine for the time being, it took a while to go from Los Angeles to The Dalles. Also my GPS did something weird where it had me take the exit and immediately get back onto the same road, which threw me for such a loop that I got a 7 mph speeding ticket because I was just confused and forgot to pay attention to my speed. For skills I picked up a couple new categories, 1 point into High Value and 1 point into Fragile. I'll grab Just in Time next. Are the top line of categories useful, like explosive and flammable I think they are?
Anyway having fun so far, though I did take 2% trailer damage on my last haul and I'm not really sure why. I'm like 99% positive I didn't hit anything, so maybe I was taking a highway turn too quickly? It was a little weird, but not super important.
-edit- Huh this is weird, apparently I haven't found a Peterbilt dealer yet, just a Kenworth dealer. I suppose I could look into one of those, I like the exterior styling a bit more than the Peterbilt, though I quite liked the mirror placement on that one I drove earlier. At this point I might just do a couple more hauls and only take a $50k loan, or even just save up enough for a truck + gas without a loan. I don't mind driving other people's trucks right now since it means if I screw up and have a collision it's not my repair bill.
You can pay off loans early, but you have to pay them off in their entirety (you can't make early payments to reduce the time/interest).
Hiring a driver is pretty easy, you just use the staffing agency option in your menu, and you'll be presented with a list of drivers, which changes every day in-game. The more staffing agencies you unlock on the map, the more options you have for drivers, but they will all be universally terrible. Drivers will all have their own stats, and a driver rating (usually anywhere from 0.8 to around 1.5), which determines their required pay. The required pay doesn't change over time though, so you can either hire a driver with the stats you want that costs a little more, or hire a complete doofus and spend more time training him or her but pay a little less in payroll over time. Once you hire a driver, you assign them to a garage with an open space, where they will sit idle at until they get a truck. Each time you hire a driver, the staffing agency hits you for a $1,500 fee.
For a driver to start taking loads, they have to be assigned a truck, meaning you'll have to buy one. When you purchase a truck you'll also assign it to a garage with an open bay. Assigning it to a bay with a driver in it will put that driver in the truck, and they will quickly find a job and start working. You can adjust the training priorities for each of your drivers (they have the same options that you do), and the best way to get them to start making decent money is to prioritize distance (meaning they will add a point to long hauling every time they level up), and once that is high or full switch to balanced so they have more options for loads over time. If a driver sucks than you can fire them, but obviously this means you will lose all of the progress you have made with their leveling. If you do this, their truck will just return to the bay it is assigned to and be idle. You can reassign drivers to different trucks, though. Buying a new truck for yourself and passing your hand me down to a driver is entirely possible. You can also reassign drivers to different garages, but the big thing to remember is that if you reassign a driver to a different garage you also have to reassign their truck to the same garage they are in, otherwise they will just sit around idle at the new garage. Upgrading your garage increases the number of bays you have available for drivers and their trucks. You can upgrade a driver's truck at any time, but as far as I can tell you never actually see them on the road, so don't waste money on cosmetic upgrades unless you plan on snagging the truck from them at some point.
Early on you will likely see a driver make a delivery somewhere, and then not be able to find any loads at that location, and drive back to their home garage empty (which costs money for time and fuel). This generally stops happening once they are leveled up enough to have a wide variety of options for taking loads.
You have to find at least one of a company's dealerships on the main map to be able to buy trucks from that company, so finding some of them can be a pain in the ass (especially Mack), but over time you'll pick them up as you take loads. If you're not in a huge hurry, or if you've just dropped off a load, it can be worth it to explore all of the question marks in the town/city you are currently in. Once you own a certain number of trucks (if I remember right its three) you can buy trucks online at dealers you have unlocked.
Very small amounts of trailer damage can happen if you graze or clip a guardrail or another car during a turn or lane change, it may not even be noticeable from the cab of the truck. I think it can also happen if you are moving too fast over rough ground, so if you're hauling ass down a dirt road to get to a drop off point I think that can cause some minor damage. Very minor damage won't hurt your delivery rating if everything else is ok, but there is no greater shame than damaging a load, and although it is not modeled in any way the NPCs will still judge you for every scratch and dent.
So I only had a couple truck dealers unlocked, a Kenworth and an International Western Star, and I noticed that at level 8 (I was level 7 at the time) the Kenworth dealer would let me purchase a 455 hp / 1650 lb-ft of torque / 200 gallon fuel tank W900 Day Cab, so that's what I did. I didn't even need a loan to purchase it, though it only left me with $7500 afterwards which I figured was enough for gas and tolls until I could complete a job. I ended up hauling some machinery for lumber work around up to Oregon and them I brought back a mulcher that I'm assuming was being sent in for service or something, and then hauled another one to a different spot (all for the same company) and I'm back up to like $75k in the bank. I'm definitely glad I got a 455 hp truck instead of one of the 370 hp ones, because getting up to and across that damn bridge in San Francisco is indeed a giant pain in the ass. I figure I'll keep driving this truck for a while longer and once I unlock a noticeably better truck I'll buy that then hire somebody to drive this one around. I'll hold off on getting my own trailer for now, since I don't have any idea what options that opens up or closes off for me.
I think that owning my own truck means I get paid more for each job, but I'm not entirely sure about that. It would be silly if it didn't work like that, and I'm going to choose to believe that's how it is and I just didn't notice the difference in payment amount. It also seems weird to me that upgrading my current "tiny" garage into a "small" is more expensive than upgrading to a "large". Either way that's a big honking chunk of change to throw around ($180k for small, $100k for large) so I'll hold off. I'm not entirely sure how to get a garage in a different location either, but I'm guessing I'll have to drive past a spot and discover it before I get the option.
I'm really enjoying driving these big honking trucks around, and it's just super chill listening to a streaming radio station and cruising the countryside.
-edit- Looked it up, and apparently you have to upgrade to a small before upgrading to a large, though the interface wasn't too clear on that.
-edit2- I got bitched at during a weigh station stop that my truck was apparently not in perfect working order (I checked and there was like 1% damage on a couple components and the wheels were listed at like 5% or something, which I figured was representing tire wear but maybe not?), so after I dropped off a front end loader in Idaho I told the game to mark the nearest repair shop and it sent me to a Western Star dealership, so now I have two of those and one Kenworth unlocked. I actually never drove to the Volvo dealership right next to my home base apparently, and I know I drove past a Peterbilt dealership but I guess I didn't get close enough to unlock it. I'll probably look at expanding my garage and picking up another truck and another driver fairly soon. I could afford another truck right now, but I don't have anywhere to assign it since I haven't yet upgraded my garage.
-edit3- I have failed as a trucker, I had a Just In Time delivery that wasn't too far of a drive and I had a 2 hour buffer based off the GPS estimate. Except the exit to get from the highway I was on to the highway that went where I needed to go was blocked off by the cops. My GPS of course instructed me to drive up the next exit and turn around and come back from the other direction, which ate up over an hour because it was pretty far to the next exit, and then I got to the exit on the other side of the highway and that was also blocked off, so I eventually ended up back at the spot where I first tried to exit and just sort of bulled my way through the blockade (at least I didn't eat any fines for that) and after all that nonsense by the time I delivered the cargo it was nearly 3 hours late and I lost $15k out of the $21k the job was paying. My very first non-Excellent rated delivery, what a pain in the ass. So how do you handle that sort of thing when it comes up? I don't see any way I could have made the delivery once I was unable to take the exit I needed.
-edit3- I have failed as a trucker, I had a Just In Time delivery that wasn't too far of a drive and I had a 2 hour buffer based off the GPS estimate. Except the exit to get from the highway I was on to the highway that went where I needed to go was blocked off by the cops. My GPS of course instructed me to drive up the next exit and turn around and come back from the other direction, which ate up over an hour because it was pretty far to the next exit, and then I got to the exit on the other side of the highway and that was also blocked off, so I eventually ended up back at the spot where I first tried to exit and just sort of bulled my way through the blockade (at least I didn't eat any fines for that) and after all that nonsense by the time I delivered the cargo it was nearly 3 hours late and I lost $15k out of the $21k the job was paying. My very first non-Excellent rated delivery, what a pain in the ass. So how do you handle that sort of thing when it comes up? I don't see any way I could have made the delivery once I was unable to take the exit I needed.
Honestly? It happens. Sometimes you'll miss a crucial exit and have to go way out of your way, sometimes there will be an accident or some other type of roadblock. The road gods giveth, and the road gods taketh away.
That said, I have one one or more occasions gone past the offramp that was blocked, slowed down, and then used the divider (as long as there weren't jersey barriers or guardrails) to turn around and come back from the other direction and use the offramp on the other side. Is it illegal? Sure. Dangerous? You bet. Did I get my load to the yard on time? Damn straight.
Also, the in-game radio stations are pretty decent, but if you ever get tired of listening to Progressive or T-Mobile ads you can edit the file that has the list of stations and add your own internet radio streams. I forgot to back mine up after reinstalling Windows after an upgrade so I have to do it again. It's nice to have a custom tailored list, or even just get rid of any of the default ones that you don't listen to.
The craziest thing about it was that the exit to that highway was blocked on both sides of the highway I was traveling on. I have no idea how I could even have gotten to the delivery location without going through and knocking down at least part of the blockade on one side or the other. I managed not to run over the cops standing there, but I did end up nudging a truck out of the way with the side of the trailer, and I didn't even get a collision fine or trailer damage from doing so. If I had done that when I had first gotten to the blockade I could have still made the delivery on time. I'm just annoyed that a delivery that should have paid out over $21k instead paid out $6k while also eating up significantly more time and fuel than it otherwise would have, but at least I didn't lose money. I couldn't turn around until an exit because that particular highway was separated by Jersey barriers, I want to say it was in Portland but I don't remember exactly.
Regardless, after taking a cooldown cargo I saw I had enough money to upgrade my garage, so I went ahead and did that. I have been contemplating picking up a couple of new trucks and some drivers to go with them (well one of the drivers would get my current truck and I would upgrade), though I'd like to find a Peterbilt dealer first because I want to try out the 389 and 579 and I figure I could get one of each. Though I should probably figure out what all the differences between transmissions mean at some point, the number of gears is simple enough and presumably within the same line more is better, but I'm not sure when you would want to use an Allison over an Eaton Fuller or an mDrive or an I-Shift. The Allison has fewer gears than the Eaton Fuller, but also has a torque multiplier so I guess you would want it for a truck meant to haul extra heavy loads, right?
-edit- Ah-hah! I had just recently taken the ability to transport flammable liquids, and I was able to snag a contract to take fuel from a refinery in Nevada up to the Seattle airport. Aside from being a well paying gig, it also has let me locate another Kenworth dealership, and then the gas station I went to in order to fill up is in Tacoma. After I logged out I checked dealership locations and there is a Peterbilt dealership in Tacoma, so when I play next I will track that down so I will have access to Kenworth, Western Star and Peterbilt dealerships to give me more options for when I get my next truck or two. Also as far as the in-game radio goes, I've been listening to TruckersFM but their music selection feels a bit limited. Any recommendations for an in-game station or should I look into trying to figure out how to get the local classic rock station (who I'm pretty sure have an internet broadcast) into the selection list?
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited November 2021
Just an FYI I recommend going into the settings and turn down the road closed event percentage to almost off. You still get an occasional closure, but it won't be every trip, or at the same exit every time anymore.
I got the game back when Oregon came out, and on the stock setting the I-5 to HWY 22 (Bend) exit was ALWAYS blocked, and the next exit that could get me where I was going was Portland. It was like a 6 hour detour, and it happened EVERY TIME.
Just an FYI I recommend going into the settings and turn down the road closed event percentage to almost off. You still get an occasional closure, but it won't be every trip, or at the same exit every time anymore.
I got the game back when Oregon came out, and on the stock setting the I-5 to HWY 22 (Bend) exit was ALWAYS blocked, and the next exit that could get me where I was going was Portland. It was like a 6 hour detour, and it happened EVERY TIME.
I will definitely look into that! I'm pretty sure that's the exact intersection that screwed me over so completely. I also had my first rain yesterday, and I had to pause the game to check the keybindings to see what button to press to turn on my wipers (it is 'P' on the keyboard by default).
-edit- It's a shame the game doesn't have a practice mode or something, though I suppose I could just make a new profile and practice parking trailers on quick jobs.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Just an FYI I recommend going into the settings and turn down the road closed event percentage to almost off. You still get an occasional closure, but it won't be every trip, or at the same exit every time anymore.
I got the game back when Oregon came out, and on the stock setting the I-5 to HWY 22 (Bend) exit was ALWAYS blocked, and the next exit that could get me where I was going was Portland. It was like a 6 hour detour, and it happened EVERY TIME.
I will definitely look into that! I'm pretty sure that's the exact intersection that screwed me over so completely. I also had my first rain yesterday, and I had to pause the game to check the keybindings to see what button to press to turn on my wipers (it is 'P' on the keyboard by default).
-edit- It's a shame the game doesn't have a practice mode or something, though I suppose I could just make a new profile and practice parking trailers on quick jobs.
You get an eye for industries that will be easy or hard to park at eventually.
So counting myself, I have three trucks and drivers now. We're all pulling profitable jobs, even the new guy because he actually started with a point in long distance jobs. I have also just now hit level 20, which I believe unlocks everything in terms of truck parts (except a few paint jobs, but those aren't really parts) so I'm looking into customizing a truck for the longer term. Experimenting with changing various bits around, I've noticed that the Eaton transmissions just seem flat out better based on the impact on the truck's stats, despite the Allison transmissions unlocking later and also being more expensive. Am I missing something there? There also isn't an apparent difference in the truck stats between the 455 hp engine and the 500 hp engine, but if I go up to a 600 hp engine then the hill and heavy load ratings go up but the normal load rating goes down, is the reduction in the normal loads rating due to lower fuel economy? Also slightly confused that going from 455 to 500 hp doesn't change any of the ratings at all, I suppose the engines in question have the same torque numbers (though at different RPM) so it ends up pretty much the same?
I did find it interesting that going from a Kenworth W900 Day Cab to a Peterbilt 579 Stand Up Sleeper came with a noticeable decrease in fuel economy, despite not being that much longer and more aerodynamic while having the same engine and an 18 speed instead of a 13 speed. I suppose the sleeper part adds a decent bit of weight but I had expected the better aerodynamics and improved transmission would make up for that. I also fully admit that I'm not an expert on big rigs so maybe there's something I am not considering.
It's pretty amazing how addicting the game is, considering that most of the time is spent cruising along a highway.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
So counting myself, I have three trucks and drivers now. We're all pulling profitable jobs, even the new guy because he actually started with a point in long distance jobs. I have also just now hit level 20, which I believe unlocks everything in terms of truck parts (except a few paint jobs, but those aren't really parts) so I'm looking into customizing a truck for the longer term. Experimenting with changing various bits around, I've noticed that the Eaton transmissions just seem flat out better based on the impact on the truck's stats, despite the Allison transmissions unlocking later and also being more expensive. Am I missing something there? There also isn't an apparent difference in the truck stats between the 455 hp engine and the 500 hp engine, but if I go up to a 600 hp engine then the hill and heavy load ratings go up but the normal load rating goes down, is the reduction in the normal loads rating due to lower fuel economy? Also slightly confused that going from 455 to 500 hp doesn't change any of the ratings at all, I suppose the engines in question have the same torque numbers (though at different RPM) so it ends up pretty much the same?
I did find it interesting that going from a Kenworth W900 Day Cab to a Peterbilt 579 Stand Up Sleeper came with a noticeable decrease in fuel economy, despite not being that much longer and more aerodynamic while having the same engine and an 18 speed instead of a 13 speed. I suppose the sleeper part adds a decent bit of weight but I had expected the better aerodynamics and improved transmission would make up for that. I also fully admit that I'm not an expert on big rigs so maybe there's something I am not considering.
It's pretty amazing how addicting the game is, considering that most of the time is spent cruising along a highway.
I'm betting the 600hp has a higher torque rating and runs at lower RPMs, so highway cruising will be bad fuel economy wise with a regular load, but if you are pulling a crane or a helicopter at 30mph it'll do great.
So counting myself, I have three trucks and drivers now. We're all pulling profitable jobs, even the new guy because he actually started with a point in long distance jobs. I have also just now hit level 20, which I believe unlocks everything in terms of truck parts (except a few paint jobs, but those aren't really parts) so I'm looking into customizing a truck for the longer term. Experimenting with changing various bits around, I've noticed that the Eaton transmissions just seem flat out better based on the impact on the truck's stats, despite the Allison transmissions unlocking later and also being more expensive. Am I missing something there? There also isn't an apparent difference in the truck stats between the 455 hp engine and the 500 hp engine, but if I go up to a 600 hp engine then the hill and heavy load ratings go up but the normal load rating goes down, is the reduction in the normal loads rating due to lower fuel economy? Also slightly confused that going from 455 to 500 hp doesn't change any of the ratings at all, I suppose the engines in question have the same torque numbers (though at different RPM) so it ends up pretty much the same?
I did find it interesting that going from a Kenworth W900 Day Cab to a Peterbilt 579 Stand Up Sleeper came with a noticeable decrease in fuel economy, despite not being that much longer and more aerodynamic while having the same engine and an 18 speed instead of a 13 speed. I suppose the sleeper part adds a decent bit of weight but I had expected the better aerodynamics and improved transmission would make up for that. I also fully admit that I'm not an expert on big rigs so maybe there's something I am not considering.
It's pretty amazing how addicting the game is, considering that most of the time is spent cruising along a highway.
I'm betting the 600hp has a higher torque rating and runs at lower RPMs, so highway cruising will be bad fuel economy wise with a regular load, but if you are pulling a crane or a helicopter at 30mph it'll do great.
So stats-wise, the smaller engine (Paccar MX-13 455) has 1650 lb-ft of torque at 900 rpm while the larger engine (Cummins ISX15 600) has 2050 lb-ft of torque at 1200 rpm. I just recently took the plunge and got a 579 Hi Rise Sleeper to replace my 579 Stand Up Sleeper (both 6x4 chassis, the new one with 300 gallon fuel tank while the old had 220) and upgraded to the 600 hp engine (both have the same transmission) and hauling regular loads they seem to have very similar (possibly identical) fuel economy, though the new truck handles hills and heavy loads much better. I really like the new truck very much, I even remembered to get the hood mirrors which are fantastic for catching small cars next to me that I might have missed otherwise. Overall the truck is just better in every way, and if there is a difference in fuel economy it is nowhere near as noticeable compared to when I changed from a "short" Kenworth W900 to the "long" Peterbilt 579 (which both had the same engine but the 579 had an 18 speed vs the W900 with its 13 speed). So overall it's just a giant shrug I guess, maybe fuel economy is tied to the model of truck and not the actual setup of the truck?
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Also fuel economy is barely noticeable as a mechanic in general, especially once you have large gas tanks. Money wise it doesnt matter at all.
Also fuel economy is barely noticeable as a mechanic in general, especially once you have large gas tanks. Money wise it doesnt matter at all.
Sure it doesn't matter much when compared to how much money you make for doing the delivery, I just find it weird that the numbers I have seen haven't really made a ton of sense based on what I understand about the game. I can see fuel economy going down when you switch from a short chassis to a long chassis, but I figured putting in a more powerful engine would have also had an impact, if only based on the displayed truck ratings. If my 600 hp / 2050 lb-ft truck is just as fuel efficient as my 455 hp / 1650 lb-ft truck, then what other factor is causing the normal loads rating to go down when I switch to the more powerful engine? If anything, the truck is just straight up better in every way, just slightly more expensive to purchase. And don't get me started on how I don't understand the Allison transmissions, I thought they would be the way to go for super heavy loads since they have a listed torque multiplier, but if I configure a truck with one the heavy load rating goes down, and so does every other rating compared to a transmission that is unlocked earlier and cheaper.
I am definitely starting to grow my business pretty significantly, I have two small garages that I will upgrade to large soon, with 5 trucks and 4 hired drivers (plus myself of course) all operating at a profit. I've gotten better at parking trailers as well, I've started doing the 90 XP parking jobs because while not efficient in terms of money and XP earned vs time playing it is more fun to try to improve through challenging myself. I also had a really fun drive through Sequoia National Park and have been giving tips to my friend that also picked up the game, but has had less time to play so far.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Also fuel economy is barely noticeable as a mechanic in general, especially once you have large gas tanks. Money wise it doesnt matter at all.
Sure it doesn't matter much when compared to how much money you make for doing the delivery, I just find it weird that the numbers I have seen haven't really made a ton of sense based on what I understand about the game. I can see fuel economy going down when you switch from a short chassis to a long chassis, but I figured putting in a more powerful engine would have also had an impact, if only based on the displayed truck ratings. If my 600 hp / 2050 lb-ft truck is just as fuel efficient as my 455 hp / 1650 lb-ft truck, then what other factor is causing the normal loads rating to go down when I switch to the more powerful engine? If anything, the truck is just straight up better in every way, just slightly more expensive to purchase. And don't get me started on how I don't understand the Allison transmissions, I thought they would be the way to go for super heavy loads since they have a listed torque multiplier, but if I configure a truck with one the heavy load rating goes down, and so does every other rating compared to a transmission that is unlocked earlier and cheaper.
I am definitely starting to grow my business pretty significantly, I have two small garages that I will upgrade to large soon, with 5 trucks and 4 hired drivers (plus myself of course) all operating at a profit. I've gotten better at parking trailers as well, I've started doing the 90 XP parking jobs because while not efficient in terms of money and XP earned vs time playing it is more fun to try to improve through challenging myself. I also had a really fun drive through Sequoia National Park and have been giving tips to my friend that also picked up the game, but has had less time to play so far.
At some point, maybe level 20, you gain the ability to buy garages straight from the map, without having to go to the city itself. You can really explode your business at that point. Still gotta find employment offices for drivers, but once you've found a bunch, you can hire them straight from the menu screens too. Your money really starts coming in hand over fist then. I think I'm up to 100k+ a day?
Also fuel economy is barely noticeable as a mechanic in general, especially once you have large gas tanks. Money wise it doesnt matter at all.
Sure it doesn't matter much when compared to how much money you make for doing the delivery, I just find it weird that the numbers I have seen haven't really made a ton of sense based on what I understand about the game. I can see fuel economy going down when you switch from a short chassis to a long chassis, but I figured putting in a more powerful engine would have also had an impact, if only based on the displayed truck ratings. If my 600 hp / 2050 lb-ft truck is just as fuel efficient as my 455 hp / 1650 lb-ft truck, then what other factor is causing the normal loads rating to go down when I switch to the more powerful engine? If anything, the truck is just straight up better in every way, just slightly more expensive to purchase. And don't get me started on how I don't understand the Allison transmissions, I thought they would be the way to go for super heavy loads since they have a listed torque multiplier, but if I configure a truck with one the heavy load rating goes down, and so does every other rating compared to a transmission that is unlocked earlier and cheaper.
I am definitely starting to grow my business pretty significantly, I have two small garages that I will upgrade to large soon, with 5 trucks and 4 hired drivers (plus myself of course) all operating at a profit. I've gotten better at parking trailers as well, I've started doing the 90 XP parking jobs because while not efficient in terms of money and XP earned vs time playing it is more fun to try to improve through challenging myself. I also had a really fun drive through Sequoia National Park and have been giving tips to my friend that also picked up the game, but has had less time to play so far.
At some point, maybe level 20, you gain the ability to buy garages straight from the map, without having to go to the city itself. You can really explode your business at that point. Still gotta find employment offices for drivers, but once you've found a bunch, you can hire them straight from the menu screens too. Your money really starts coming in hand over fist then. I think I'm up to 100k+ a day?
you can buy them from the map after you purchase your 3rd.
Yeah I figured it was probably like buying trucks online, where after you get the 3rd you unlock the option. Mostly because I have 2 garages and it says I have to buy more to purchase garages online. Speaking of which, I am up to 7 trucks total now, though it made me sad that for the first time one my drivers couldn't find a return cargo. Also the AI drivers seem to level up very slowly, I wonder if they don't get bonus experience for special cargo types? It is probably related to the fact that I have fatigue simulation off I suppose, since that nearly doubles the hours per day that I can drive, though I wonder if they take the entire allowed time for a delivery, it sure seems like some of their hauls just take way more time than I would expect. Regardless it's not that important, as long as they are bringing in more money than I am paying out it's fine.
The estimated income for a garage must be based off of having pretty high level drivers, because even the highest skill AI driver I have is not pulling in enough per day to meet the productivity goal average per day yet. $300k per week for a 5 truck garage means they would have to make almost $8600/day in profit each, and they are definitely nowhere near that yet.
A couple of times yesterday the game caught me out on my lack of knowledge of real world trucking. First time was when a company in Olympia wanted to send chlorine (I think, might have been some other chemical) to Phoenix, which was a pretty solid paycheck so I grabbed the trailer and followed my GPS. Except I didn't know that the trailer I was hauling was not road legal in California, so I got fined for an illegal trailer ($1500) at both weigh stations I had to stop at. If I had known my regulations better I could have routed around the state, so lesson learned there. The second time I had a rush delivery job that I had about a two and a half hour buffer for, so I figured I was fine. Except my GPS both overestimated the speed I could maintain on the chosen route by a lot, and also sent me through Yosemite, so I got fined $1500 for commercial hauling through the park and ended up delivering the cargo with less than 20 minutes to spare because the speed on the route through Yosemite is incredibly low (plus I lost about half an hour at one of those road construction sites with the traffic lights). I'm not certain if routing around Yosemite would have gotten me there in time, either.
As can be seen in my Steam profile, I've been enjoying the heck out of this game. On my main profile I have 15 trucks in 3 fully upgraded garages with weekly profit over $800k (counting my own hauls of course). Very chill, very relaxing, though it does look like the drivers I gave better trucks to are slightly outperforming their similarly skilled peers (which is actually a thing according to the patch notes, it's just not a huge effect it seems). I am a bit disappointed that the chance of a hired driver failing to find a return cargo is just a flat number (10% without mods) instead of being influenced by their skills, but the main draw is driving a truck around not running a simulated company so I don't fault them for taking a simple approach.
Also I said main profile, because I decided that sometimes I want a chill day of driving a simulated truck around for ridiculous sums of money, and sometimes I want a more challenging and realistic experience, so I have downloaded a mod that makes the economy more realistic (but not fully realistic because it's still a game) and turned fatigue back on for that profile. It was a stark difference when the very first job I was auto-assigned had a payout of $43! So far my best job has paid $1.09 per mile. It should be really interesting when fuel economy actually matters (I am considering turning on realistic fuel consumption as well, I haven't yet and it obviously isn't an issue until you own your own truck). This does mean that I will have to actually take out a loan to purchase my first truck (and the loan availability, amounts and interest rate have been tweaked otherwise there would be no way I could afford the loan payments) and while I could get a $150k loan with 3% interest right now, I'd have to settle for a very basic truck. On the other hand it might be worth it, as from what I can tell you get about 4x the money per job with your own truck in this mod which should be enough to pay the interest, pay for fuel and still leave me with more than I would get by driving other people's trucks. It's definitely an interesting switch from basically never having to worry about money to having to actually put thought into what makes sense.
I stocked up on Euro Truck Simulator 2 map expansions that I'd been missing (because sale, of course) and have dusted that off for the first time in years. I needed to copy over my control settings from ATS (there's no elegant way that I found, I just snapped pictures of my settings on my phone and re-applied them), and then it was smooth sailing. Obviously the mechanics of the game are basically identical; the differences in trucks (all cab-over models unless you mod), maps, road layouts (expect lots of roundabouts), scenery, general ambience, etc etc combine with the familiar mechanics to provide an experience that's a pleasant blend of the same and different at the same time.
Also there's now a Ukrainian paint jobs DLC pack in ETS2 from which all profits are being donated to charity to help out in Ukraine. Good guy SCS 👍
Also also, it's worth noting Ukraine isn't on the map yet, although you can get close to the border. The next expansion was going to be Heart of Russia; that is now indefinitely delayed for obvious reasons, and will be retitled if indeed it ever resurfaces.
Thats pretty sad since it was basically done. I wouldn’t personally have a problem with it being released but I can see why they wouldn’t want to do it.
IIRC there had been chatter that they were considering a ukraine DLC at some point too, that probably would be difficult as well. (Though the obvious next dlc will probably be Greece and/or former yugoslavia).
I stocked up on Euro Truck Simulator 2 map expansions that I'd been missing (because sale, of course) and have dusted that off for the first time in years. I needed to copy over my control settings from ATS (there's no elegant way that I found, I just snapped pictures of my settings on my phone and re-applied them), and then it was smooth sailing. Obviously the mechanics of the game are basically identical; the differences in trucks (all cab-over models unless you mod), maps, road layouts (expect lots of roundabouts), scenery, general ambience, etc etc combine with the familiar mechanics to provide an experience that's a pleasant blend of the same and different at the same time.
Also there's now a Ukrainian paint jobs DLC pack in ETS2 from which all profits are being donated to charity to help out in Ukraine. Good guy SCS 👍
Also also, it's worth noting Ukraine isn't on the map yet, although you can get close to the border. The next expansion was going to be Heart of Russia; that is now indefinitely delayed for obvious reasons, and will be retitled if indeed it ever resurfaces.
A funny thing about the bolded:
For some odd reason, I always found it far easier to manually park in ETS2 than in ATS. Like, I'll take the most challenging parking assignment for the bonus XP in ETS2...but in ATS, even an easy parking assignment felt way harder. Hell...even in the urban areas of the UK in ETS2 felt easier than in ATS. I wonder if that had to do with all the trucks being CoE in ETS2...
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I stocked up on Euro Truck Simulator 2 map expansions that I'd been missing (because sale, of course) and have dusted that off for the first time in years. I needed to copy over my control settings from ATS (there's no elegant way that I found, I just snapped pictures of my settings on my phone and re-applied them), and then it was smooth sailing. Obviously the mechanics of the game are basically identical; the differences in trucks (all cab-over models unless you mod), maps, road layouts (expect lots of roundabouts), scenery, general ambience, etc etc combine with the familiar mechanics to provide an experience that's a pleasant blend of the same and different at the same time.
Also there's now a Ukrainian paint jobs DLC pack in ETS2 from which all profits are being donated to charity to help out in Ukraine. Good guy SCS 👍
Also also, it's worth noting Ukraine isn't on the map yet, although you can get close to the border. The next expansion was going to be Heart of Russia; that is now indefinitely delayed for obvious reasons, and will be retitled if indeed it ever resurfaces.
A funny thing about the bolded:
For some odd reason, I always found it far easier to manually park in ETS2 than in ATS. Like, I'll take the most challenging parking assignment for the bonus XP in ETS2...but in ATS, even an easy parking assignment felt way harder. Hell...even in the urban areas of the UK in ETS2 felt easier than in ATS. I wonder if that had to do with all the trucks being CoE in ETS2...
The tighter turning circles and general easier maneuverability of the shorter wheelbase cab-over trucks in ETS2 may be a significant factor.
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Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Bravely Default / 3DS Friend Code = 3394-3571-1609
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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It's a mod. I love em though.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Standard truck designs are significantly more aerodynamic than a cabover (which has the aero profile of a brick), which leads to better fuel economy. They also have much more living space inside of the cab, and they are quieter (due to the driver not being placed directly above the engine). Cabovers still have benefits, though - the driver sits higher off of the road, which gives them better visibility, but the biggest benefit is that the much shorter wheelbase makes the trucks extremely maneuverable. This is a major benefit on thin and windy roads, or inside cramped, busy cities, and its why why cabovers are still very popular in Europe.
Fire Engines are the same way, but even more extreme because their cabs tend to be much larger (due to having more passenger space). In a traditional style truck I guess you could take a nap or something while its being worked on, not so much with a cabover.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Every player in the server has to have the same mods installed, but if you want to join a Convoy that is running mods that you don't have installed than the game will tell you exactly which mods you need, and if they are on the Steam workshop you'll be able to open it and download them without having to leave the game. Part of the reason I never got too deep into mods was because they weren't compatible with Convoy Mode, so this is a pretty cool update.
Fuck yea! I'm down for running a modded convoy. I love my K100.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Lift and drop axle.
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Fuel economy never hurts, especially if you're sticking with a shorter truck for better visibility/maneuverability.
It's worth dropping a single point into the various special delivery types (fragile, express, etc) solely to unlock these jobs and give yourself more options for loads.
The San Francisco garage is a huge pain in the ass to get out of, there is almost constant traffic during the day and you have a good chance of getting rocked by god awful California drivers (this is a sim after all), so be very careful pulling out. The good news is there is a Volvo dealer right down the road, so if you need repairs or upgrades its a short trip. Also, you're literally right around the corner from an auto dealership, and hauling cars is pretty easy (they are relatively light and the trailers aren't too long). Be careful on some of the San Francisco hills though, the majority of the time you're gonna be taking the Bay Bridge east out of town, and that climb is a killer if your engine/tranny aren't strong.
Shop around for your first truck, horsepower and torque are important, as is fuel tank size. All of these can be upgraded of course, but you don't want to kneecap yourself right out of the gate. Aesthetics are also critical, styling all over other trucks on the road is half of the game.
Going into debt isn't a horrible idea, financing a truck and hiring a driver will put you deep in the red but if you prioritize your driver's training for long distance, before long they will be generating more income per day than your daily loan payments cost (meaning they are basically making your loan payments for you). Once you get your loans knocked down a bit you can rinse and repeat. The interest rates aren't great on bigger loans, but you gotta spend money to make money.
Also, turn off driver fatigue, it's dumb.
In convoy mode, if you and your partner are not near each other one of you can take a job, and then the other one can pull up the menu and click on their partner's name, and there will be an option to fast travel to the nearest town and take the same job. This is an easy way to link up if you guys were playing singleplayer and are on opposite sides of the map.
Lastly, fuck Jeeps. You'll see.
How does hiring a driver work? Do they use the truck you bought and then you have to keep taking quick jobs? I would think unless you have two trucks that would have to be the case, it would be silly if you could both use the same truck. I've personally got 1000 mile hauls unlocked and that seems fine for the time being, it took a while to go from Los Angeles to The Dalles. Also my GPS did something weird where it had me take the exit and immediately get back onto the same road, which threw me for such a loop that I got a 7 mph speeding ticket because I was just confused and forgot to pay attention to my speed. For skills I picked up a couple new categories, 1 point into High Value and 1 point into Fragile. I'll grab Just in Time next. Are the top line of categories useful, like explosive and flammable I think they are?
Anyway having fun so far, though I did take 2% trailer damage on my last haul and I'm not really sure why. I'm like 99% positive I didn't hit anything, so maybe I was taking a highway turn too quickly? It was a little weird, but not super important.
-edit- Huh this is weird, apparently I haven't found a Peterbilt dealer yet, just a Kenworth dealer. I suppose I could look into one of those, I like the exterior styling a bit more than the Peterbilt, though I quite liked the mirror placement on that one I drove earlier. At this point I might just do a couple more hauls and only take a $50k loan, or even just save up enough for a truck + gas without a loan. I don't mind driving other people's trucks right now since it means if I screw up and have a collision it's not my repair bill.
Hiring a driver is pretty easy, you just use the staffing agency option in your menu, and you'll be presented with a list of drivers, which changes every day in-game. The more staffing agencies you unlock on the map, the more options you have for drivers, but they will all be universally terrible. Drivers will all have their own stats, and a driver rating (usually anywhere from 0.8 to around 1.5), which determines their required pay. The required pay doesn't change over time though, so you can either hire a driver with the stats you want that costs a little more, or hire a complete doofus and spend more time training him or her but pay a little less in payroll over time. Once you hire a driver, you assign them to a garage with an open space, where they will sit idle at until they get a truck. Each time you hire a driver, the staffing agency hits you for a $1,500 fee.
For a driver to start taking loads, they have to be assigned a truck, meaning you'll have to buy one. When you purchase a truck you'll also assign it to a garage with an open bay. Assigning it to a bay with a driver in it will put that driver in the truck, and they will quickly find a job and start working. You can adjust the training priorities for each of your drivers (they have the same options that you do), and the best way to get them to start making decent money is to prioritize distance (meaning they will add a point to long hauling every time they level up), and once that is high or full switch to balanced so they have more options for loads over time. If a driver sucks than you can fire them, but obviously this means you will lose all of the progress you have made with their leveling. If you do this, their truck will just return to the bay it is assigned to and be idle. You can reassign drivers to different trucks, though. Buying a new truck for yourself and passing your hand me down to a driver is entirely possible. You can also reassign drivers to different garages, but the big thing to remember is that if you reassign a driver to a different garage you also have to reassign their truck to the same garage they are in, otherwise they will just sit around idle at the new garage. Upgrading your garage increases the number of bays you have available for drivers and their trucks. You can upgrade a driver's truck at any time, but as far as I can tell you never actually see them on the road, so don't waste money on cosmetic upgrades unless you plan on snagging the truck from them at some point.
Early on you will likely see a driver make a delivery somewhere, and then not be able to find any loads at that location, and drive back to their home garage empty (which costs money for time and fuel). This generally stops happening once they are leveled up enough to have a wide variety of options for taking loads.
You have to find at least one of a company's dealerships on the main map to be able to buy trucks from that company, so finding some of them can be a pain in the ass (especially Mack), but over time you'll pick them up as you take loads. If you're not in a huge hurry, or if you've just dropped off a load, it can be worth it to explore all of the question marks in the town/city you are currently in. Once you own a certain number of trucks (if I remember right its three) you can buy trucks online at dealers you have unlocked.
Very small amounts of trailer damage can happen if you graze or clip a guardrail or another car during a turn or lane change, it may not even be noticeable from the cab of the truck. I think it can also happen if you are moving too fast over rough ground, so if you're hauling ass down a dirt road to get to a drop off point I think that can cause some minor damage. Very minor damage won't hurt your delivery rating if everything else is ok, but there is no greater shame than damaging a load, and although it is not modeled in any way the NPCs will still judge you for every scratch and dent.
I think that owning my own truck means I get paid more for each job, but I'm not entirely sure about that. It would be silly if it didn't work like that, and I'm going to choose to believe that's how it is and I just didn't notice the difference in payment amount. It also seems weird to me that upgrading my current "tiny" garage into a "small" is more expensive than upgrading to a "large". Either way that's a big honking chunk of change to throw around ($180k for small, $100k for large) so I'll hold off. I'm not entirely sure how to get a garage in a different location either, but I'm guessing I'll have to drive past a spot and discover it before I get the option.
I'm really enjoying driving these big honking trucks around, and it's just super chill listening to a streaming radio station and cruising the countryside.
-edit- Looked it up, and apparently you have to upgrade to a small before upgrading to a large, though the interface wasn't too clear on that.
-edit2- I got bitched at during a weigh station stop that my truck was apparently not in perfect working order (I checked and there was like 1% damage on a couple components and the wheels were listed at like 5% or something, which I figured was representing tire wear but maybe not?), so after I dropped off a front end loader in Idaho I told the game to mark the nearest repair shop and it sent me to a Western Star dealership, so now I have two of those and one Kenworth unlocked. I actually never drove to the Volvo dealership right next to my home base apparently, and I know I drove past a Peterbilt dealership but I guess I didn't get close enough to unlock it. I'll probably look at expanding my garage and picking up another truck and another driver fairly soon. I could afford another truck right now, but I don't have anywhere to assign it since I haven't yet upgraded my garage.
-edit3- I have failed as a trucker, I had a Just In Time delivery that wasn't too far of a drive and I had a 2 hour buffer based off the GPS estimate. Except the exit to get from the highway I was on to the highway that went where I needed to go was blocked off by the cops. My GPS of course instructed me to drive up the next exit and turn around and come back from the other direction, which ate up over an hour because it was pretty far to the next exit, and then I got to the exit on the other side of the highway and that was also blocked off, so I eventually ended up back at the spot where I first tried to exit and just sort of bulled my way through the blockade (at least I didn't eat any fines for that) and after all that nonsense by the time I delivered the cargo it was nearly 3 hours late and I lost $15k out of the $21k the job was paying. My very first non-Excellent rated delivery, what a pain in the ass. So how do you handle that sort of thing when it comes up? I don't see any way I could have made the delivery once I was unable to take the exit I needed.
Honestly? It happens. Sometimes you'll miss a crucial exit and have to go way out of your way, sometimes there will be an accident or some other type of roadblock. The road gods giveth, and the road gods taketh away.
That said, I have one one or more occasions gone past the offramp that was blocked, slowed down, and then used the divider (as long as there weren't jersey barriers or guardrails) to turn around and come back from the other direction and use the offramp on the other side. Is it illegal? Sure. Dangerous? You bet. Did I get my load to the yard on time? Damn straight.
Also, the in-game radio stations are pretty decent, but if you ever get tired of listening to Progressive or T-Mobile ads you can edit the file that has the list of stations and add your own internet radio streams. I forgot to back mine up after reinstalling Windows after an upgrade so I have to do it again. It's nice to have a custom tailored list, or even just get rid of any of the default ones that you don't listen to.
Regardless, after taking a cooldown cargo I saw I had enough money to upgrade my garage, so I went ahead and did that. I have been contemplating picking up a couple of new trucks and some drivers to go with them (well one of the drivers would get my current truck and I would upgrade), though I'd like to find a Peterbilt dealer first because I want to try out the 389 and 579 and I figure I could get one of each. Though I should probably figure out what all the differences between transmissions mean at some point, the number of gears is simple enough and presumably within the same line more is better, but I'm not sure when you would want to use an Allison over an Eaton Fuller or an mDrive or an I-Shift. The Allison has fewer gears than the Eaton Fuller, but also has a torque multiplier so I guess you would want it for a truck meant to haul extra heavy loads, right?
-edit- Ah-hah! I had just recently taken the ability to transport flammable liquids, and I was able to snag a contract to take fuel from a refinery in Nevada up to the Seattle airport. Aside from being a well paying gig, it also has let me locate another Kenworth dealership, and then the gas station I went to in order to fill up is in Tacoma. After I logged out I checked dealership locations and there is a Peterbilt dealership in Tacoma, so when I play next I will track that down so I will have access to Kenworth, Western Star and Peterbilt dealerships to give me more options for when I get my next truck or two. Also as far as the in-game radio goes, I've been listening to TruckersFM but their music selection feels a bit limited. Any recommendations for an in-game station or should I look into trying to figure out how to get the local classic rock station (who I'm pretty sure have an internet broadcast) into the selection list?
I got the game back when Oregon came out, and on the stock setting the I-5 to HWY 22 (Bend) exit was ALWAYS blocked, and the next exit that could get me where I was going was Portland. It was like a 6 hour detour, and it happened EVERY TIME.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I will definitely look into that! I'm pretty sure that's the exact intersection that screwed me over so completely. I also had my first rain yesterday, and I had to pause the game to check the keybindings to see what button to press to turn on my wipers (it is 'P' on the keyboard by default).
-edit- It's a shame the game doesn't have a practice mode or something, though I suppose I could just make a new profile and practice parking trailers on quick jobs.
You get an eye for industries that will be easy or hard to park at eventually.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I did find it interesting that going from a Kenworth W900 Day Cab to a Peterbilt 579 Stand Up Sleeper came with a noticeable decrease in fuel economy, despite not being that much longer and more aerodynamic while having the same engine and an 18 speed instead of a 13 speed. I suppose the sleeper part adds a decent bit of weight but I had expected the better aerodynamics and improved transmission would make up for that. I also fully admit that I'm not an expert on big rigs so maybe there's something I am not considering.
It's pretty amazing how addicting the game is, considering that most of the time is spent cruising along a highway.
I'm betting the 600hp has a higher torque rating and runs at lower RPMs, so highway cruising will be bad fuel economy wise with a regular load, but if you are pulling a crane or a helicopter at 30mph it'll do great.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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So stats-wise, the smaller engine (Paccar MX-13 455) has 1650 lb-ft of torque at 900 rpm while the larger engine (Cummins ISX15 600) has 2050 lb-ft of torque at 1200 rpm. I just recently took the plunge and got a 579 Hi Rise Sleeper to replace my 579 Stand Up Sleeper (both 6x4 chassis, the new one with 300 gallon fuel tank while the old had 220) and upgraded to the 600 hp engine (both have the same transmission) and hauling regular loads they seem to have very similar (possibly identical) fuel economy, though the new truck handles hills and heavy loads much better. I really like the new truck very much, I even remembered to get the hood mirrors which are fantastic for catching small cars next to me that I might have missed otherwise. Overall the truck is just better in every way, and if there is a difference in fuel economy it is nowhere near as noticeable compared to when I changed from a "short" Kenworth W900 to the "long" Peterbilt 579 (which both had the same engine but the 579 had an 18 speed vs the W900 with its 13 speed). So overall it's just a giant shrug I guess, maybe fuel economy is tied to the model of truck and not the actual setup of the truck?
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Sure it doesn't matter much when compared to how much money you make for doing the delivery, I just find it weird that the numbers I have seen haven't really made a ton of sense based on what I understand about the game. I can see fuel economy going down when you switch from a short chassis to a long chassis, but I figured putting in a more powerful engine would have also had an impact, if only based on the displayed truck ratings. If my 600 hp / 2050 lb-ft truck is just as fuel efficient as my 455 hp / 1650 lb-ft truck, then what other factor is causing the normal loads rating to go down when I switch to the more powerful engine? If anything, the truck is just straight up better in every way, just slightly more expensive to purchase. And don't get me started on how I don't understand the Allison transmissions, I thought they would be the way to go for super heavy loads since they have a listed torque multiplier, but if I configure a truck with one the heavy load rating goes down, and so does every other rating compared to a transmission that is unlocked earlier and cheaper.
I am definitely starting to grow my business pretty significantly, I have two small garages that I will upgrade to large soon, with 5 trucks and 4 hired drivers (plus myself of course) all operating at a profit. I've gotten better at parking trailers as well, I've started doing the 90 XP parking jobs because while not efficient in terms of money and XP earned vs time playing it is more fun to try to improve through challenging myself. I also had a really fun drive through Sequoia National Park and have been giving tips to my friend that also picked up the game, but has had less time to play so far.
At some point, maybe level 20, you gain the ability to buy garages straight from the map, without having to go to the city itself. You can really explode your business at that point. Still gotta find employment offices for drivers, but once you've found a bunch, you can hire them straight from the menu screens too. Your money really starts coming in hand over fist then. I think I'm up to 100k+ a day?
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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you can buy them from the map after you purchase your 3rd.
Bravely Default / 3DS Friend Code = 3394-3571-1609
The estimated income for a garage must be based off of having pretty high level drivers, because even the highest skill AI driver I have is not pulling in enough per day to meet the productivity goal average per day yet. $300k per week for a 5 truck garage means they would have to make almost $8600/day in profit each, and they are definitely nowhere near that yet.
A couple of times yesterday the game caught me out on my lack of knowledge of real world trucking. First time was when a company in Olympia wanted to send chlorine (I think, might have been some other chemical) to Phoenix, which was a pretty solid paycheck so I grabbed the trailer and followed my GPS. Except I didn't know that the trailer I was hauling was not road legal in California, so I got fined for an illegal trailer ($1500) at both weigh stations I had to stop at. If I had known my regulations better I could have routed around the state, so lesson learned there. The second time I had a rush delivery job that I had about a two and a half hour buffer for, so I figured I was fine. Except my GPS both overestimated the speed I could maintain on the chosen route by a lot, and also sent me through Yosemite, so I got fined $1500 for commercial hauling through the park and ended up delivering the cargo with less than 20 minutes to spare because the speed on the route through Yosemite is incredibly low (plus I lost about half an hour at one of those road construction sites with the traffic lights). I'm not certain if routing around Yosemite would have gotten me there in time, either.
Also I said main profile, because I decided that sometimes I want a chill day of driving a simulated truck around for ridiculous sums of money, and sometimes I want a more challenging and realistic experience, so I have downloaded a mod that makes the economy more realistic (but not fully realistic because it's still a game) and turned fatigue back on for that profile. It was a stark difference when the very first job I was auto-assigned had a payout of $43! So far my best job has paid $1.09 per mile. It should be really interesting when fuel economy actually matters (I am considering turning on realistic fuel consumption as well, I haven't yet and it obviously isn't an issue until you own your own truck). This does mean that I will have to actually take out a loan to purchase my first truck (and the loan availability, amounts and interest rate have been tweaked otherwise there would be no way I could afford the loan payments) and while I could get a $150k loan with 3% interest right now, I'd have to settle for a very basic truck. On the other hand it might be worth it, as from what I can tell you get about 4x the money per job with your own truck in this mod which should be enough to pay the interest, pay for fuel and still leave me with more than I would get by driving other people's trucks. It's definitely an interesting switch from basically never having to worry about money to having to actually put thought into what makes sense.
Also there's now a Ukrainian paint jobs DLC pack in ETS2 from which all profits are being donated to charity to help out in Ukraine. Good guy SCS 👍
Also also, it's worth noting Ukraine isn't on the map yet, although you can get close to the border. The next expansion was going to be Heart of Russia; that is now indefinitely delayed for obvious reasons, and will be retitled if indeed it ever resurfaces.
Steam | XBL
IIRC there had been chatter that they were considering a ukraine DLC at some point too, that probably would be difficult as well. (Though the obvious next dlc will probably be Greece and/or former yugoslavia).
A funny thing about the bolded:
For some odd reason, I always found it far easier to manually park in ETS2 than in ATS. Like, I'll take the most challenging parking assignment for the bonus XP in ETS2...but in ATS, even an easy parking assignment felt way harder. Hell...even in the urban areas of the UK in ETS2 felt easier than in ATS. I wonder if that had to do with all the trucks being CoE in ETS2...
The tighter turning circles and general easier maneuverability of the shorter wheelbase cab-over trucks in ETS2 may be a significant factor.
Steam | XBL