Even Cargo Distribution

[Celtic Bhoy David]

As far as I can see this can't be done in-game, but it would be handy if you could and that is making sure that cargo being transferred from, say, a ship/train line to then be delivered by trucks that are also delivering to the same place is transferred 50/50.

For instance, I have ships bringing in coal (maximum of 300 units per ship) to be dropped off at a truck station. I then have trucks delivering that coal to a coal factory. The truck station receiving the coal from the ships is a standard 2 terminal truck station and I have 2 separate lines set up - a line picking up from each terminal - both going to the same coal factory. I have two separate lines because if I just had the one, the truck station would have to be a ridiculous length so I don't lose units of coal.

Seeing as the coal coming in is going to the same factory, wouldn't it make sense for the two truck line terminals to receive equal sharing (150 units each, in this case)? Instead what seems to happen is that one terminal seems to be more "dominant" in receiving cargo so there's always one terminal that is getting a ton of cargo and not much going to the other terminal, even though both lines deliver to the same place.

[genemead]

Originally posted by Celtic Bhoy David:

I have two separate lines because if I just had the one, the truck station would have to be a ridiculous length so I don't lose units of coal.

1- "Even distribution" is impossible. You can't tell a station/factory how to divide cargo between lines. You can, however, tell your vehicles how much of what to load (100%, 50%, etc.).
2- You need one line and a train instead of two lines and trucks.

[larry_roberts]

genemead has hit it on the head with a train instead!.

[Celtic Bhoy David]

Originally posted by genemead:

Originally posted by Celtic Bhoy David:

I have two separate lines because if I just had the one, the truck station would have to be a ridiculous length so I don't lose units of coal.

1- "Even distribution" is impossible. You can't tell a station/factory how to divide cargo between lines. You can, however, tell your vehicles how much of what to load (100%, 50%, etc.).
2- You need one line and a train instead of two lines and trucks.

1) I wouldn't be telling a station/factory how to divide their cargo. It would be on the line that the train/ship bringing it in to the relative truck station that I would like the option to "split" the load. If there are two separate lines going from point A (truck station) to point B (Coal Factory), both lines having the exact same route and delivery as each other with the exact same product that has been brought into point A, the cargo should be split evenly between the two terminals at the truck station. It's kinda of daft that one terminal gets much more of the same product than the other terminal even though the cargo is going to the same delivery point.

If they were two separate lines going to two different delivery locations then I could understand the difference in the split but not when the two lines are doing the exact same delivery requirements. I know about the % of loading, but this wouldn't stop the uneven cargo drop off from the ship line to the truck line.

2) I originally already thought of the train delivering the product instead of the trucks, but that wasn't an option that made sense because of factory/mine locations, route options etc.

I have several locations where I've got product being split between two terminals at the same truck station because as I mentioned in my original post, if I have only one line but I don't want to lose cargo then the length of the truck stations would get to a ridiculous length. That's why I split the product between the two terminals.

[Ideas Man]

Is it more ridiculous than the length of a railway station?

It does sound like you're trying to do the job of trains with trucks though.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Celtic Bhoy David:

if I have only one line but I don't want to lose cargo then the length of the truck stations would get to a ridiculous length. That's why I split the product between the two terminals.

As ridiculous as you may think it looks, it is expected that you make your truck station platforms long enough to support what ever is being unloaded onto them via train/boat. That is part of the logistical puzzle the player is meant to contend with.

[mikeysouthwell]

So what you’re saying is you need to build one station per line? I noticed this as a major issue in chapter 2 mission 1. Building a single station configured with multiple train tracks, cargo platforms and lines resulted in only one platform getting the cargo. I either had to delete one line so the other one would start filling up or I had to build another station. That seems broken to me?

[CashonWheels]

have you tried the one line A1 - B -A2 - B method? When a truck comes back to pick up coal at A it goes to the other platform. 2 stations but 4 stops.

I don't like logic of instantly losing cargo because my platform is not the perfect size, so I downloaded this:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1967619462&searchtext=cargo+terminal

[mikeysouthwell]

Thanks CashonWheels. Can you please explain how this mod works? I don't think this is what I'm after and I was referring to what appears to be a lack in vanilla functionality which appears buggy.

I was having the issue predominantly with trains rather than trucks and what I was hoping for was an even distribution between lines on the same terminal if it has more than one train line. Regardless of whether I have one or more cargo platforms or tracks, if I have 2 or more lines to the same terminal I end up with one line becoming the dominant line with huge amounts of cargo and the other lines getting little or no cargo.

The only way around this is to delete the old lines and only have one line going or create multiple train terminals, where a single terminal with multiple tracks and cargo platforms would be far more cost efficient and practical. Does that make sense?

[CashonWheels]

Originally posted by mikeysouthwell:

Thanks CashonWheels. Can you please explain how this mod works? I don't think this is what I'm after and I was referring to what appears to be a lack in vanilla functionality which appears buggy.

I was having the issue predominantly..........

The standard block of truck platform holds ~10 cargo. Anything above 10 and it begins to 'lose' cargo because it is 'overloaded'. Trucks get stuck in traffic, wait on trains, or they get delayed at other stations. The above mod increases the capacity of a block of cargo platform from 10 to up to 200. When a ship of 200 food places on it 3 blocks of truck cargo platform you will not get the "losing cargo items because it is overloaded" warning while using this mod.

Two different lines carrying the same type cargo to the same destination is not recommended.

[canophone]

Originally posted by larry_roberts:

genemead has hit it on the head with a train instead!.

There are scenarios where a train doesn't work though, and trucks must be used. In those cases, it's better to have them set as full load to wait on fewer lines. And the distribution splits to more localized locales should be farther from the port, where you only add trucks as needed to serve that locale.

[genemead]

Yep, in cases of the terrain that won't work for a train, or the trip is too short, trucks are better than trains. However, a train will haul 10X more, 10X faster, and make 10X as much money, than trucks ever will.

Sorry, you'll never get even distribution between lines coming out of a station or factory. While you think it's a "lack of vanilla functionality" (and might be a "bug") it's really a part of the game we all have to deal with. I've always said, every game ever made is alike:
1- Here's the rules.
2- Here's the situation.
3- Now do the best you can.

Meanwhile, what CashonWheels said, "Two different lines carrying the same type cargo to the same destination is not recommended." is an understatement.

[lemming3k]

Have you definitely got the same number of trucks on each line and is some of it historical build up (ie you had only one platform for a long time so it's backed up)?
I've been running a 4 platform 4 line setup with trains and as long as they're evenly distributed then over time it evens out and works fine.
Initially it had issues but I believe this was because of the way I expanded the station - new platforms had no goods at first so the lines had different train numbers. It's counter intuitive but adding trains until it was even meant all incoming goods were split relatively evenly, so all that was left was to clear the backlog.

[Celtic Bhoy David]

Originally posted by Ideas Man:

Is it more ridiculous than the length of a railway station?

It does sound like you're trying to do the job of trains with trucks though.

Yes.

A train station length that could fit around 300 units isn't that ridiculous in length (although it wouldn't have that much cargo waiting because of the short distance the train would be running).
Also, with the short distance the train would be running, the train would be waiting an eternity for the ship(s) to deliver the cargo. Build a truck station to fit 200-300 units and see the length of it.

Like I said, I already thought of a train but because of various elements, a train isn't really that viable (unless I can figure a way to combine other elements).

Originally posted by mikeysouthwell:

So what you’re saying is you need to build one station per line? I noticed this as a major issue in chapter 2 mission 1. Building a single station configured with multiple train tracks, cargo platforms and lines resulted in only one platform getting the cargo. I either had to delete one line so the other one would start filling up or I had to build another station. That seems broken to me?

I build one station per line only if I need one station. I have several stations that use multiple lines, both delivering and picking up cargo, and I've not had any problems when doing that. My issue (although it doesn't stop the enjoyment of the game for me) is really that cargo isn't evenly split when being dropped off at either a truck/train station when delivery lines from that truck/train station are both set up to be exactly the same.

[Celtic Bhoy David]

Originally posted by lemming3k:

Have you definitely got the same number of trucks on each line and is some of it historical build up (ie you had only one platform for a long time so it's backed up)?
I've been running a 4 platform 4 line setup with trains and as long as they're evenly distributed then over time it evens out and works fine.
Initially it had issues but I believe this was because of the way I expanded the station - new platforms had no goods at first so the lines had different train numbers. It's counter intuitive but adding trains until it was even meant all incoming goods were split relatively evenly, so all that was left was to clear the backlog.

For the coal cargo scenario I mentioned, I had around 6 trucks on each line from each terminal at the same truck station. When I checked up on it all, I had a huge amount of cargo on terminal 1 and hardly anything on terminal 2 (and remember, both lines are exactly the same in terms of route and delivery location), so I had to sell off a few trucks from line 2 (that uses terminal 2) because it was a waste of time (and money) having that amount of vehicles on a line that doesn't get as much of the cargo.

With the scenario you described in your game, I may try to just put the same amount of trucks back on each line and see how that goes over time. Might just be needing to wait for the game mechanics to "catch up" so to speak.

[Autocoach]

The game mechanic is that in the example of duplicating routes it will favour the 'quicker' one by actual game calculation - using the other derivable info from the frequency calculation - therefore if everything is the same it is possible that the quicker route will switch between the two lines. It's part of the 'overflow' mechanic and is one of the very few areas where this game presents more of a challenge than TpF1.