Will I need to take out loans at some point?

[Linerax]

Not sure if I can begin my own company without having to depend on the bank's money.

[margalus]

No, you never have to take out a loan if you don't want to. It's just there to speed things up.

Personally I don't take a loan until after I've bought my first truck for cash on the barrelhead... Then I still don't take a loan until I get back over $100K in the bank. Then I take the 400K loan and buy another garage and 2 more trucks and hire 2 drivers. But that is just what I do.

You do not need a loan, it just speeds progress up by a few days.

[tmaddox]

I am level 21 or 22 and have never taken a loan. I have 2 Garages, 6 Trucks (2 of each model) and 5 employees. You'll just need to do a lot more quick jobs while you earn the cash to buy that first truck but it is definitely viable. .

[Asigion]

You don't need to take out a loan but if you want your own truck sooner rather than later it allows you to do that. Once you are making more than the loan repayment for the $400.000 then you can take out the loan.

The $400,000 is the best one to take out as it is the lowest rate to pay back and you just have the payments taken out until it is repaid. I take out a loan every time I start and in a short time the money just rolls in and I don't miss the repayment. The only annoying thing is the sound made every time the payment is taken out.

[ernest p. worrell]

I'm always floating ~300,000 bucks in loans cause why wouldn't you? The interest rates are per annum and yet you pay them off in 56 day terms automatically so it's just peanuts. Paying the 4-5,000 a day is really not hard, you could do it exclusively driving quick jobs if you wanted, but the freight market is even more lucrative. Basically I carry three or four loans at a time and every time I get them down to 30-40k I pay them off and reborrow, reinvest.

You can't make nearly as much money as fast all by yourself. Taking out the loans in a smart way, you will turn that credit into sustainable profits in no time.

I tend to be very risk averse in real life and even in simulators and games I'm constantly having to remind myself not to be so careful as to lose out, but the "loans" in this game are a no brainer. You don't even get into any trouble for overdrawing. At least I haven't yet--I've overdrawn a couple times by a few hundred bucks if I got a little to aggressive on spending and ended up catching some dumb red lights or speeding tickets something. But there's never been any fee, and I always bounce back to floating ~100k after doing a few jobs. Most weeks I'm clearing over 200k dollars now.

By the by, if you use your skill ups optimally, you will only make even more money. Picking from only one of fragile or high value cargo, then getting a few in long distance and just in time, it will stack. So if you're trucking cars that'll be fragile cargo bonus, and if it's an urgent job that's a stacking bonus on top of that, and if it's long distance even more. In no time you're making $30+ a mile easy. Don't double dip into both fragile cargo AND high value. Pick one and max it. Also don't bother with fuel economy until late game.

You could start with one skill up on the DOT cert to truck flammable liquids though, cause there's almost always gas/diesel needing to be hauled and that's a more efficienct single skill up, I think, than anything else in the game as far as $/mile. It has a lower ceiling than a maxed high value or fragile cargo skill though. Follow the same basic rubric for picking/training your employees too. Do NOT leave your drivers on "balanced", they'll make way less money that way.

[CaptainDuckman]

Wish I could set up a bank to loan money to npc drivers. Would give me something to do with the $1M+ I have by now (waiting to buy more trucks and garages until Arizona is released).
Never took out a loan. Drove quick missions until I was level 10 or so, then bought a truck. After that it goes quick.

[Wilfrid Wong]

I always take up loans when I have the opportunity to expand my business. The daily cost of fund is low. The opportunity cost of not getting a loan is high. You hired drivers can easily cover the interest. And it takes time for hired driver to level, especially when you casually play this game.

Like in real life, if you want to start up a new business, unless you have rich family to back you up, you would need working capital to build a business. This is a simulation game. I love this aspect.

[ginger-welsh]

I take a 400 grand loan as soon as it's offered, buy 1 garage with 5 slots and fill them with cheap mod trucks. Then never buy another garage and run a 6 truck firm, jumping between vehicles for Jobs. Peterbilt 379/389, Kenworth W900, K200, FLB, Mack Superliner is all I need. Continually swapping engines, mods etc. keeps the income low and my interest high and makes choosing the right jobs more meaningfull.
This excellent game is one of the best 14 quid I ever spent.

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