Hired drivers going with no cargo

[Bufnitza]

Hey there,

This is my first playthrough of this awesomely addictive time-sink of a game and I just hired my first 2 drivers. I notice that they only go full (with cargo) when they go out of their garage town. However, on their way back, they aren't carrying any cargo.

Can someone more experienced with the game explain to me the following, please?

1. Is it by design that the hired drivers to always go back to their assigned garage after a job is done? One would expect them to go from garage to city X then take another job from city X to Y, and so on, and seldomly go back to the garage.

2. If point 1 is valid, then is it by design that the hired drivers go with no cargo on that way back? I guess realisticly it depends if there's any cargo available to take to their garage town, but still, this looks really sub-optimal.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

[Nono54Fr]

1. the drivers have a " family " in their hometown, they always drive back to their assigned garage after a delivery, it's always A > B & B > A then A > C & C / A, with or without a cargo.

2. point 1 debunked above

[WhiskeyWerewolf]

They go from their hometown to wherever. Then they go from wherever to the hometown. They might bring cargo from wherever to hometown, and they might not.

[CeruleanBlade]

They find a job from their hometown, get some rest (sometimes on the job), complete their job and then come back home. The process then repeats itself for each driver

[Bufnitza]

It all makes sense. Thanks!

[JesusRaptor]

You will find that as you upgrade their skills in the different types of cargo they can carry, you should have less empty haul backs. That's why it is important to unlock the first box of each type,minus Ecodriving, as soon as possible to ensure they have a wider choice of cargo available for the back haul.

[Bufnitza]

Originally posted by |tb|JesusRaptor:

You will find that as you upgrade their skills in the different types of cargo they can carry, you should have less empty haul backs. That's why it is important to unlock the first box of each type,minus Ecodriving, as soon as possible to ensure they have a wider choice of cargo available for the back haul.

Great tip! I didn't realize that without unlocking the first level of the skills, the specialized cargo would not even show up for them.

[Elleron]

Originally posted by Bufnitza:

Great tip! I didn't realize that without unlocking the first level of the skills, the specialized cargo would not even show up for them.

Hired drivers have a 10% chance of returning empty. Both legs of the round trip are based on their skills, though. So you definately want the special cargos unlocked for the bonus cash, but ADR is less useful if there isn't a chemical plant in their home town.

Eco driving reduces the chance of fines and damage in addition to fuel costs. There's a thread in the scs forum someplace with AI drivers maxing different skills first, and eco came just behind high-value in terms of most profitable. I suspect some of that's down to eco driving affecting every km driven, where the other skills require a specific cargo.