Special Transport DLC Pilot Car question..?

[Blitzkrieg Wulf]

I recently just purchased a lot of DLC for ETS2, and a friend was generous enough to gift me Italia DLC so I could play on a complete map. I've been happy with all of the DLC... except the special transport.

Most of my frustration stems from the pilot cars, and their lack of consistency. I don't mind that the speed limit is artificially lowered to 35 mph/ 60 kph, that makes sense... but when the pilot cars hammer the brakes for no apparent reason and slow from 60 kph to 30-35 kph before a tunnel that is obviously large enough for the cargo, it can be frustrating because their action seems nonsensical. If you don't run into the pilot car, all of a sudden you are searching for which gear to drop into, and start accelerating back up to the speed limit.

Other frustrations include the lead pilot car slowing onto freeway/expressway on-ramps that are uphill, crawling along at maybe 20 kph, saying, "waiting for rear pilot car" (And, this is for like 30-60 seconds...)... Again, nonsensical that a small, zippy van can't quickly catch up to a truck that's probably grossing 100 tons and only doing 30 mph... instead making the truck that had momentum up the ramp come to a crawl.

Other times they zoom off, doing almost 70 kph at times (Not to warn traffic).

No, I'm not trying to play grand theft auto with a 100 ton truck. At the same time, I just want logical Ai behavior. Are there any workshop mods that can change the pilot cars actions (forcing them to actually do the speed limit), or are they all pre-scripted and unchangeable?

Should also probably be noted that I've only done perhaps a half dozen special transport loads on 2-3 of the routes, so I'm not sure if it's route-specific or general.

[Reese]

The only times I've had the pilots slow down signifcantly were when the AI cars were not moved over as I approached say a tunnel. As for the rear pilot lagging behind, keep an eye on it as you approach turns and if it starts to slow up, slow down yourself.

Suprised you didn't run into the issue where the pilots won't change lanes.

Edit: Right, now what was the question you had?

If you meant the workshop mods question, no. None yet that I know of. All of their behavior is scripted as far as I know, but the same applies to physics. Physics are changed by modders, so perhaps the AI Pilot behavior can be modded the same.

[Blitzkrieg Wulf]

Originally posted by Reese's Cup:

The only times I've had the pilots slow down signifcantly were when the AI cars were not moved over as I approached say a tunnel. As for the rear pilot lagging behind, keep an eye on it as you approach turns and if it starts to slow up, slow down yourself.

Suprised you didn't run into the issue where the pilots won't change lanes.

Edit: Right, now what was the question you had?

If you meant the workshop mods question, no. None yet that I know of. All of their behavior is scripted as far as I know, but the same applies to physics. Physics are changed by modders, so perhaps the AI Pilot behavior can be modded the same.

As far as keeping an eye on the rear pilot car, I find that challenging without going to third person and looking back (Can't zoom out far enough to see it in just regular 3rd person, can't see around the load in 1st)... and with mouse driving that can be interesting.

Once I've noticed the lead pilot car change lanes and for some reason the rear one didn't. Either that, or was incredibly slow to move over (Looked back and still saw him behind me after the first car had moved... presumably followed me as I changed lanes?)


Yes, the only question I had was if there was workshop mods to change the pilot car behavior... A little bummed out that there isn't one, but thanks for the answer!

[Briannospam]

If you don't have time enough to brake down your speed when the leader pilot car slowing down or break, it sounds to me like you maybe drive with to short distance to the leader pilot car.
- Same thing if you can't brake quick enough if AI trafic suddenly brakes or hardly slowing down.

Also in real life traffic many drivers (both car drivers and truck drivers) keeps much to short distance to the car/truck in front of them, and that very dangerous and ofen result in accidents. :(

[Bobby]

You do realise that the rear escort vehicle has to hold back to block traffic from entering from multiple lanes etc. He's, in theory, in constant radio contact with the front vehicle and then of course to the driver of the heavy load. Except we don't get that bit. If you have to reverse due to getting a corner wrong, in real life, the escort holds back to allow for that. If he let traffic join too early, then they're buggered!
As for speed, your incorrect.

don't mind that the speed limit is artificially lowered to 35 mph

AIL vehicles are divided into 3 categories and must comply with these conditions to operate under STGO:

Cat 1 (not exceeding 46,000 kgs / 50,000 kgs):

up to 46,000 kgs with a minimum of 5 axles
up to 50,000 kgs with a minimum of 6 axles
AW Regs maximum weights apply to axle and vehicle gross weights (meaning, only the train weight can exceed AW Regs)
display ‘STGO Cat 1’ plate to the front of the drawing vehicle
2 working days notice must be provided to highway and bridge authorities about the weight: the dimensions may need to be given to the police
speed limits:
motorway 60 mph
dual carriageway 50 mph
other roads 40 mph
Cat 2 (not exceeding 80,000 kgs):

minimum of 6 axles
maximum axle weight of 12,500 kgs
display ‘STGO Cat 2’ plate to the front of the drawing vehicle
2 working days notice to highway and bridge authorities in relation to weight: the dimensions may need to be given to the police
speed limits:
motorway 40 mph
dual carriageway 35 mph
other roads 30 mph
a plate must be fitted to the vehicle showing the maximum weight recommended by the manufacturer of the vehicle when travelling at certain maximum speeds: this must be marked ‘Special Types Use’ - the plate should show the weights for gross, train and axle weights
Cat 3 (Not exceeding 150,000 kgs):

minimum of 6 axles
maximum axle weight of 16,500 kgs
display ‘STGO Cat 3’ plate to the front of the drawing vehicle
5 working days notice to highway and bridge authorities: the dimensions may need to be given to the police
speed limits:
motorway 40 mph
dual carriageway 35 mph
other roads 30 mph
a plate must be fitted to the vehicle showing the maximum weight recommended by the manufacturer of the vehicle when travelling at certain maximum speeds: this must be marked ‘Special Types Use’ - the plate should show the weights for gross, train and axle weights

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-types-enforcement-guide/special-types-enforcement-guide

[Blitzkrieg Wulf]

Originally posted by briannospam:

If you don't have time enough to brake down your speed when the leader pilot car slowing down or break, it sounds to me like you maybe drive with to short distance to the leader pilot car.
- Same thing if you can't brake quick enough if AI trafic suddenly brakes or hardly slowing down.

Also in real life traffic many drivers (both car drivers and truck drivers) keeps much to short distance to the car/truck in front of them, and that very dangerous and ofen result in accidents. :(

I took a break half way between delivering the haul truck chassis, and noted that the lead van doesn't like to ever be much more than maybe 20-30m in front of my truck. When I spawned in after loading from save, the pilot van was maybe 10 meters in front, and shifting through the first few gears it didn't want to be more than 20 meters in front... as soon as I got to the speed limit, perhaps pilot car was 25-30 meters in front... but a lot of times the speed limit is 31 mph and I just set cruise control on with the revs up a bit to prevent having to shift, and find that the pilot van only wants to do 27-28 mph.

I have seen videos (albeit in USA) where a state trooper in a charger and a lead pilot car go side by side down the streets, pause at each intersection, and (assuming consecutive intersections), zoom off to the next one as the oversized truck approaches. The rear pilot car just matched the trucks pace. Not sure if I can find the link, but I'll try.

Originally posted by zoo:

You do realise that the rear escort vehicle has to hold back to block traffic from entering from multiple lanes etc. He's, in theory, in constant radio contact with the front vehicle and then of course to the driver of the heavy load. Except we don't get that bit. If you have to reverse due to getting a corner wrong, in real life, the escort holds back to allow for that. If he let traffic join too early, then they're buggered!
As for speed, your incorrect.

don't mind that the speed limit is artificially lowered to 35 mph

AIL vehicles are divided into 3 categories and must comply with these conditions to operate under STGO:

*snip*

Yes-- but it also seems that ETS developers put a patrol car at every intersection regardless. I Don't remember precisely which route it was (Brussels to Amsterdam, maybe?) where you pull out of the depot with a heavy haul load, go through the town, and up to the expressway... and rear pilot/warning van has all the time in the world to catch up, but doesn't. I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, but it is a minor annoyance. It is not like I am racing off trying to beat them to the finish line- I cannot pass the lead van, I just wish I wasn't forced to stop.

The regulations that apply to real life is very well and good, (And, admittedly, I am not in-tune with european/British regulations for trucking), but I just go off of the speed limit that displays for trucks on the navigation.

If the regulations say I am only allowed X speed, why is it that SCS made the speed limit read artificially high, while programming pilot cars to drive slowly? That seems like an awfully careless mistake for how long it must have taken them to design/develop everything else in the game.

[Bucketsmith]

I agree that I feel that it could all be made a little bit smoother, and I've certainly had moments where the escort vehicles (or just regular AI traffic in- and outside of special transport jobs) put on brakes very late, and moments where they did so for seemingly nothing and just started going straight back to 60km/h.

The rear escort van holds traffic back in case something happens in the front or with your truck that requires space and time. This is intentional so you don't end up with random AI traffic being in the way of a very big, dangerous, valuable transport that cannot react fast and cannot manouvre well.
The annoying thing is that instead of trying to keep things rolling, it makes it so you usually end up having to stop on the "in ramp" on highways for the rear escort to have done its business.
I think it has to do with the map scaling, but I've never seen any on/off ramps in this game that make sense in terms of length/size in relation to the speeds of the roads they're connected to.
IIRC the entire point of escort vehicles IRL is to keep the transport moving at all times. It must always be rolling forward. Only under very special circumstances would the transport come to a stop, like unforseen circumstances or an accident. In all other cases, the truck would at least roll forward with a slow speed.
Rolling traffic is always much more efficient and safer in every way than stop-and-go traffic.

[Blitzkrieg Wulf]

Originally posted by Bucketsmith:

The rear escort van holds traffic back in case something happens in the front or with your truck that requires space and time. This is intentional so you don't end up with random AI traffic being in the way of a very big, dangerous, valuable transport that cannot react fast and cannot manouvre well.

Disagree with that, at least with the Brussels -> Amsterdam route, where you make that turn into the port right at the end.

Admittedly I made a bit of an error, and snagged part of the load on one of the poles (Which, refused to fall over, despite smacking it with 80 tons at 25 mph), and when it brought me to an instant dead stop, the pilot car drove right up my bum and only gave me about 3 meters to reverse. Was happy I had my Renault instead of my 5 axle RJL.. no way I would have been able to get out of it with the Scania.

I think that the Ai vans need a general tune... and perhaps some physics upgrades to the roadway objects. If they're going to ding me quite a bit in trailer damage (And subsequently $$ & XP), at least knock the darn light pole over, seriously!

[Bucketsmith]

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

Originally posted by Bucketsmith:

The rear escort van holds traffic back in case something happens in the front or with your truck that requires space and time. This is intentional so you don't end up with random AI traffic being in the way of a very big, dangerous, valuable transport that cannot react fast and cannot manouvre well.

Disagree with that, at least with the Brussels -> Amsterdam route, where you make that turn into the port right at the end.

There's not anything in that quote to disagree with, mate! :)
That is obviously how and why it is designed for the game.
Did you grab the wrong part of my reply?

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

Admittedly I made a bit of an error, and snagged part of the load on one of the poles (Which, refused to fall over, despite smacking it with 80 tons at 25 mph), and when it brought me to an instant dead stop, the pilot car drove right up my bum and only gave me about 3 meters to reverse. Was happy I had my Renault instead of my 5 axle RJL.. no way I would have been able to get out of it with the Scania.

Quite the predicament. The only time I ran into something on those jobs, I was lucky that the pole bent and gave me some extra space. I also had enough room to back up and manouvre.

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

I think that the Ai vans need a general tune... and perhaps some physics upgrades to the roadway objects. If they're going to ding me quite a bit in trailer damage (And subsequently $$ & XP), at least knock the darn light pole over, seriously!

I think all AI traffic purposely have no physics to them because that would be quite the performance hit. Having to calculate physics for any vehicle is quite something, this is why only your own truck has it and AI traffic looks like it is a rollercoaster cart going over a flat rail.
The roadsigns do bend over, though! I've had that happen as per above. I assume they can also fall entirely flat. :)

I don't think they need a performance boost nor a physics calculation, I think they need smoother scripting in their behaviour. (Same for other AI traffic, imho.)
I thought I saw a mod somewhere that said it made it so AI traffic brakes more realistically, instead of everyone being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and braking hard at the very last moment.
I can't find it.

[Blitzkrieg Wulf]

Originally posted by Bucketsmith:

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

Disagree with that, at least with the Brussels -> Amsterdam route, where you make that turn into the port right at the end.

There's not anything in that quote to disagree with, mate! :)
That is obviously how and why it is designed for the game.
Did you grab the wrong part of my reply?

*snip*

I thought I saw a mod somewhere that said it made it so AI traffic brakes more realistically, instead of everyone being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and braking hard at the very last moment.
I can't find it.

No, got the right part of your reply-- Point being that the rear pilot car hangs back for no reason at the start of that route, and in the event you are a klutz like me and drive your rig (Well, the load on the trailer rather..) into an adamantium street pole, the rear van will pull up right behind the trailer and not move, regardless if traffic is behind or not. Get too close, he honks, and if you touch him, you have to restart through a save at some point during the delivery.


As far as "realistic traffic mods" are concerned, I tried one and ditched it as soon as a sedan was doing an overtake on a double line blind corner near Aberdeen and totaled my new Scania. Never again will I dabble with "realistic" traffic mods... Unless, perhaps, the creator was trying to simulate drunk driving and/or road rage?

[Bucketsmith]

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

No, got the right part of your reply-- Point being that the rear pilot car hangs back for no reason at the start of that route, and in the event you are a klutz like me and drive your rig (Well, the load on the trailer rather..) into an adamantium street pole, the rear van will pull up right behind the trailer and not move, regardless if traffic is behind or not. Get too close, he honks, and if you touch him, you have to restart through a save at some point during the delivery.

It's even intentional at the start of a route for it to hang back.

Originally posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf:

As far as "realistic traffic mods" are concerned, I tried one and ditched it as soon as a sedan was doing an overtake on a double line blind corner near Aberdeen and totaled my new Scania. Never again will I dabble with "realistic" traffic mods... Unless, perhaps, the creator was trying to simulate drunk driving and/or road rage?

Oh man! That sounds stupid! "Realistic" my arse! :D

What perhaps could be a really good improvement is if they made a very simplistic way to tell the escorts to deviate from normal behaviour. Like telling one or the other to back off for a bit of distance/time.

[wilfy'Bixton.bing]

My escort vans leave the yard gate, stop then start flashing and won't let me continue. Can anyone help this total noob out. No clue what so ever is an understatement 😂😂 cheers chaps and chapettes

[Bobby]

Get close to it and it may jump or stutter as it ‘wakes’ up, - sometimes wait a moment? but seeing as it’s not, try bumping into it and it will reset and may re trigger it to work. I tend to only run into issues with lane changing escorts, they bunny hop a bit all at the same spots on the roads - I’ve done them for years and know them inside out.

[xmissinginstereox]

I found the whole experience to be a mess. The lead vehicle is very prone to break checking for no reason. The rear vehicle is invisible and never blocks overtaking traffic which means that when you narrow to a single lane you can get trapped heading into an off ramp.
The tolls are awful too, both sides of some cargo items clip through the walls on both sides. And don't even get me started on how tight some of the turns are.
I really wish they'd stop putting out new maps and start reworking their roads to be more realistic. Also flesh out the current map. Cities like Edinburgh are a complete waste of time.

[Briannospam]

Originally posted by xmissinginstereox:

I found the whole experience to be a mess. The lead vehicle is very prone to break checking for no reason. The rear vehicle is invisible and never blocks overtaking traffic which means that when you narrow to a single lane you can get trapped heading into an off ramp.

Sounds to me like a matter of experience?
- I do not have such problems myself.

To avoid these kinds of problems: when approaching a lane change: Make sure to keep your distance to the front escort and to keep as far to the right as possible such ais that have come between you and rear escort can get past you.

Originally posted by xmissinginstereox:

The tolls are awful too, both sides of some cargo items clip through the walls on both sides. And don't even get me started on how tight some of the turns are.

I do not have that problem.
Do you use mods?

Originally posted by xmissinginstereox:

I really wish they'd stop putting out new maps and start reworking their roads to be more realistic. Also flesh out the current map. Cities like Edinburgh are a complete waste of time.

Due to scaling, it is impossible to make the road network realistic.
The developers are in the process of reworking older parts of the map, but that kind of takes a long time.

[Pinda 🥜]

Old topic I know, sorry. I agree with the seemingly unnecessary braking of the escort vehicle. It's not on every route and occurs indeed even if you keep your distance and drive on or even under the limit with or without cruise control. Even on straight roads which, in my opinion, especially counts as being unnecessary.