Cargo Frustration

[dlps73]

Does anyone know how to enable an industry to use a cargo terminal placed next to it. Some times it works and some times it just ignores it. The industry dialog box has a section that flags whether it uses the line or not but that appears to be just an indication – you can’t toggle it.

I’ve even run goods trains next to the industry and destroyed the road but that just closes the industry down.

 

Cheers…..Doug

 

[Klinn]

Usually the quickest route wins.

Maybe the industry can send stuff to their preferred destination via roads more quickly than by using your cargo terminal and route? Have you tried turning on the Cargo data display (bottom-right corner) to see where materials are flowing to?

 

[dlps73]

I have Cargo Data display enabled. The stuff is preferring to wander down the road that I created at its own pace rather than be transported faster by my trucks….

[stuff196604]

I have found that if you delete the section of road this works for trains really then all the cargo will load to a train but you must keep the load time down to a minimum I try and keep less that five minutes and I get the industry upgrading

[dlps73]

I’ve done that a couple of times Stuff – but all that happens is the industry dries up within a year…..

[Reblet]

Hard to troubleshoot without a picture, but making cargo which walks taking your trucks usually isn’t that hard.

So:

• Are the stations actually freight stations? (You won’t be the first one to accidentally place a passenger station on a cargo route. :))
• Are there no missing pieces of road (i.e. your trucks are able to make the full round)
• Is taking the truck actually faster? Waiting time is considered, so you may try adding a few trucks to decrease the frequency a bit.
• Once the line is running, make sure that you have sufficient capacity to actually transport all the cargo. If cargo piles up at the truck stop, the industry will stop using your line again. Best to keep your trucks spaced out a bit (if necessary using ‘Full Load (any)’) to make sure cargo gets removed from the truck stop regularly.

Mixed transport (i.e. Truck -> Train -> Truck) is harder to pull off especially starting from 0 production, but can still be done reliably in my experience. All of the above applies, but especially keep in mind all the waiting times involved. Typically the train takes the longest and also incurs the biggest waiting penalty – so make sure your train is frequent and fast enough. Some simple experiments have indicated you have about 35 mins to get your cargo from source to destination, but your mileage my vary on that number.

If starting an industry chain from 0 production using a truck -> train -> truck route, be prepared to take some significant losses in the first couple of years though!

[Maj_Solo]

first turn on the display of cargo ob the map so you know the site is producing any cargo at all.

Second, you must make it preferable to use your services by collecting goods often enough and transport them faster to the destination then it is by walking.

The game system is bad. No cargo in the world walks by iteself. And the site producing the goods have only that many workers. So it seems the industries are asking unemployed vagabonds to do the carrying and there seems to be an endless supply of them.

[bencze]

This problem happened to me when I deleted the original road nearb the industry and made a new, straighter one apparently close but the cargo didn’t seem to find it. I had to try and make some small road parts as close as possible to the industry then at some point it started working and found the station.

Other than that, if station is connected properly, only time I seen cargo walk was because of 2 reasons – bad frequency because of the slow horse drawn vehicles and relatively big distance (almost anything is too big for those), and secondly, if I set full load it screws with the travel time so I prefer not to use it nowadays. If frequency is good enough and enough vehicles, cargo will be transported anyway. I think maintenance is same, no need to pay for gas so as long as you estimate needed number of vehicles correctly it’s gonna work just fine.

 

@Maj_Solo: It was the same in railroad tycoon 3, and I find it quite realistic and interesting (although sometimes a pain in the ass), graphic doesn’t show it but what it simulates is the people that transport the stuff when there’s no efficient transport method. Stuff was transported and traded way before transport companies existed and it continues to do so where infrastructure is weak.

[Mordeth65]

Ok, so, if you disconnect a road, it will at some point reconnect .  At least so far in my games that is the case.   So what you do is, figure out what buildings you plan to use for the whole game.    Look over map, see where industries can make  their own connection.

Break those chains, make new dirt roads that cannot complete the chain.  When there is no comp for goods, you need to over power that station with delivery methods.  Weather it be truck or train, you want more spots then goods.  This will force the game to deliver all the goods to your depot.   When your industries expand, add more delivery methods.

 

[Yeol]

Each and every player is free to play as he or she likes. Personally I see it as an exploit and not “fair play” to delete roads. I will never do it. There are enough opportunities to make profitable lines. And if any, I will try to use “the chain”, or try to do better then “the chain”. But again, everyone is free to play as he likes. It all about having fun, nothing else. 😉

[Mordeth65]

If it was not an intended mech, it would not be in the game!!  🙂       I delete almost every road in the game at some point.  The AI does not do even a decent job of making nice looking road layouts.   The look of the road layout is very important to me.

 

 

[Yeol]

It great you enjoy the game. If it’s by restructuring the road system, because it’s possible, great! It’s all about having fun.

I prefer to use the road-system as is: organical, and unefficient. When I need to build a road to connect A with B, I will again use the landscape and make it look natural: with bends and corners. And then use them to see my trucks and buses slingering over the mountains. That is my fun. 😉

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