Cargo trouble

[PlotTwist]

I placed a truck station next to an oil field that’s producing 25 oil, but the oil isn’t being placed in the station. Could someone tell me why this is? Also, if I drop off cargo at a truck station that’s right next to a train station, will the cargo from the truck station automatically transfer to my cargo train when I pull in at the station? Sorry if these seem like noob questions, I only bought the game yesterday and I’m still trying to figure out how some things work.

[Greno Zee]

Hi! There sure are others more qualified to answer your question but I’ll give it a try.

This game has a number of oddities compared to other transportation simulations but after some time spent with it I have to say I actually prefer most of them.

First, you need to have a look at TF from this angle: It’s about demand, not supply and you are simply a transportation company. Your customers have transportation needs and your job is to figure these out and provide the means to fulfill those needs.

What that means? You have to search from the top of the cargo chain. Find a city you want to supply, find a suitable goods producer and then see whether you can provide raw materials. When the city isn’t supplied yet, by creating a transportation chain you almost certainly succeed in creating the demand as well. On the other hand, if a city is supplied already, the best thing to do is simply transport the existing supply – demand chain.

It even happens that your well established transportation chain collapses due to the city switching the supplier. Many people consider this a bug, I say that’s life, adjust to the new situation a maximize your profits. The inability to adjust to market changes bankrupted many in real life 😉

Also, don’t forget about the 20 minute rule. Google it up, there’s lots of info to be found. Pretty much, as long as the cargo can be transported to the destination within 20 minutes (including it’s walking time), it will use any transportation on the way. So as long as your track -> train chain can deliver on time and follows the supply – demand chain, the goods will use all the transportation means on the way. So yes, the cargo will transfer from depot to the train station.

Of course, you need to create a line and assign vehicles to it. Once you do that, the cargo will see whether your line is better than walking the cargo and if so, it will use it.

Hope this helps a bit.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Greno Zee. Reason: some typos

[isidoro]

I would add that you can switch on the “Cargo” option in the bottom right menu and you’ll see the cargo packets move around.  It’s useful when trying to guess where are cities, industries, etc. provided from.

[gcampono]

Good explanation. I would just point out that in the 20 minutes rule you also have to consider waiting time. So it would be: walking time from oil to truck station + waiting time at oil station + transportation time by truck + walking from truck to train station + waiting time at train station + transportation by train + walking time from train station to demanding inustries.

I am not sure about how to calculate waiting time (I think it’s the displayed frequency, maybe /2 to get an average) and transportation time (I think you can estimate it by frequency * number of vehicles on the line /2).

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