Why is using your own trailer never worth it?

[luZk]

What am I missing here, how is this 150k investment worth it? It seems to only limit your gameplay and there is no upside besides the fact you can sorta make your trailer the same colour as your truck?

[Trucker_71]

With that logic, why buy your own truck?

[Antaiir]

Because own trailers are just eye candy, you can personalize them. Thats it. They never were designed as a money printing machine. Makes sense? Besides that, you'll have too much money in this game anyway, so there's no point in this complaint. ;-)

[luZk]

Originally posted by Trucker_71:

With that logic, why buy your own truck?

Because I decide how it looks, the specs and what i drive?

[luZk]

Also it takes time loading and unloading your private trailers.

[luZk]

Originally posted by Antaiir:

Because own trailers are just eye candy, you can personalize them. Thats it. They never were designed as a money printing machine. Makes sense? Besides that, you'll have too much money in this game anyway, so there's no point in this complaint. ;-)

Yeah that is about that, I get to choose how it looks. Everything else is a downgrade.

[anomaly.va]

Coming from a former OTR trucker -- the best option for buying your own trailer is a lowboy, as oversize freight is specialized and pays well. Or a reefer, which is more versatile than a standard dry van and there are certain types of HazMat you can haul with a reefer that you cannot haul with a dry van or open-deck. Dynamite, for example, has to be temp controlled to keep it stable, and those loads pay extremely well. Only catch is you have to have the Explosives HazMat endorsement in-game to haul that.

But standard refrigerated freight pays well too, much better than standard dry van. Something I've found as well, though not realistic -- is that you can 'park' the trailer in its 'home' garage at any time when unloaded if you find a pre-loaded trailer (drop-and-hook) load that pays well. Just keep in mind that you will have to 'quick-travel' back to the trailer's 'home' garage to reclaim it.

As for 'sorta' making trailers the same color as your tractor, you can make it the EXACT color. There is a way to save color presets in both custom standard and custom metallic colors, that can be used on later truck purchases and trailers. Be sure to save all THREE colors when in metallic, though, or it won't be a match.

[Knottypine]

You do in fact get slightly higher $ per mile using your own trailer. Not too noticeable as it depends on the loads you see in cargo vs loads in freight.

[THE WORM]

I started playing again and now frequent offline . no cheats anymore and I only use logging trailers and do hauls to farms or sawmills . im sure a low bow makes more but I made enough with cheats on now i can go anywhere and maybe actually enjoy game all settings on .
I also use a external program i just make a load anywhere i want and go so I am always hauling logs or lumber.
cheers cool post
its also cool having own trailer because now u own the whole company too bad game only pays employee rates

[candyman2135]

Originally posted by Trucker_71:

With that logic, why buy your own truck?

Saves money and bounce from job to job no expenses except tickets

[anomaly.va]

Originally posted by Trucker_71:

With that logic, why buy your own truck?

Originally posted by candyman2135:

Saves money and bounce from job to job no expenses except tickets

Only a real trucker, who's had to suffer with the lethargy and limp-wristedness of a typical fleet-package truck with a 300-350 hp engine, a 10-speed automated manual and 2.64 airplane gears, that when loaded, wouldn't pull a drunk ♥♥♥♥♥ off the toilet, would understand.

When I was able to upgrade to the 600-hp Cummins, I also figured, what the hell, I'll go for the Allison auto too. It wouldn't be even close to kosher IRL, but I have done 103 loaded, and passed left-lane hoggers on the shoulder at 95 mph. And no, I never drove the real thing that way, though I did see 117 coming off some hills in Nevada once. Which I told my dispatcher to never plan a load that tight again, because that would never happen again.

Anyway, never settling for less than my current setup in this game, and the only way I'm going back to manual setup is if/when my STF Eaton-Fuller setup comes in, and I've managed to get my wheel and pedals set up (tricky, as I am all but bed-ridden from respiratory problems).

[candyman2135]

Originally posted by anomaly.va:

Originally posted by Trucker_71:

With that logic, why buy your own truck?

Originally posted by candyman2135:

Saves money and bounce from job to job no expenses except tickets

Only a real trucker, who's had to suffer with the lethargy and limp-wristedness of a typical fleet-package truck with a 300-350 hp engine, a 10-speed automated manual and 2.64 airplane gears, that when loaded, wouldn't pull a drunk ♥♥♥♥♥ off the toilet, would understand.

When I was able to upgrade to the 600-hp Cummins, I also figured, what the hell, I'll go for the Allison auto too. It wouldn't be even close to kosher IRL, but I have done 103 loaded, and passed left-lane hoggers on the shoulder at 95 mph. And no, I never drove the real thing that way, though I did see 117 coming off some hills in Nevada once. Which I told my dispatcher to never plan a load that tight again, because that would never happen again.

Anyway, never settling for less than my current setup in this game, and the only way I'm going back to manual setup is if/when my STF Eaton-Fuller setup comes in, and I've managed to get my wheel and pedals set up (tricky, as I am all but bed-ridden from respiratory problems).

Am sorry for you health problems and IRL would never like to be a company driver instead of an owner operator

[anomaly.va]

Originally posted by candyman2135:

Originally posted by anomaly.va:

Only a real trucker, who's had to suffer with the lethargy and limp-wristedness of a typical fleet-package truck with a 300-350 hp engine, a 10-speed automated manual and 2.64 airplane gears, that when loaded, wouldn't pull a drunk ♥♥♥♥♥ off the toilet, would understand.

When I was able to upgrade to the 600-hp Cummins, I also figured, what the hell, I'll go for the Allison auto too. It wouldn't be even close to kosher IRL, but I have done 103 loaded, and passed left-lane hoggers on the shoulder at 95 mph. And no, I never drove the real thing that way, though I did see 117 coming off some hills in Nevada once. Which I told my dispatcher to never plan a load that tight again, because that would never happen again.

Anyway, never settling for less than my current setup in this game, and the only way I'm going back to manual setup is if/when my STF Eaton-Fuller setup comes in, and I've managed to get my wheel and pedals set up (tricky, as I am all but bed-ridden from respiratory problems).

Am sorry for you health problems and IRL would never like to be a company driver instead of an owner operator

Thanks for the kind words, and spoken like a real trucker. :)

For the newbies with no real experience, a few pointers.

First, if you buy your own truck, and want to buy a trailer, choose the most versatile for the types of freight you are interested in hauling.

Second, when perusing the cargo market, you first want to narrow down what cargo is coming from your current location, so as to minimize deadhead.

Third, once you've minimized deadhead by localizing the listed cargoes, you want to look at three things -- total distance, total pay, and pay per mile.

These three things will maximize your profit from the loads you haul with your trailer, as well as getting the most versatile for the two most common types of freight, which are open-deck and enclosed. As I mentioned earlier, the most versatile open-deck trailer is a low-boy, which can pretty much haul anything a flatbed can, plus oversize loads, which pay better. Just keep in mind that the low-boy will have an extremely low ground clearance, which can be a problem crossing railroad tracks and bumpy / hilly terrain. The most versatile enclosed trailer is a refrigerated (reefer) trailer, which can haul anything a dry van can, plus refrigerated, and its temperature control can handle certain types of HazMat that a dry van can't.

Food for thought -- once I was able to get my own truck and trailer in this game, I have easily leveled up to 53, with 100+ trucks / trailers / drivers and 25+ garages, pulling $2M / week. It's worth it -- you just have to know how to work the freight available.

[Lord-Knight Fandragon]

Originally posted by Antaiir:

Because own trailers are just eye candy, you can personalize them. Thats it. They never were designed as a money printing machine. Makes sense? Besides that, you'll have too much money in this game anyway, so there's no point in this complaint. ;-)

To bad we dont have teh option to add images to our trailers in game, without the use of modding.