What trailer do I buy first?

[sneaky]

I'm assuming that owning your own trailer ends up earning more money? I don't really know too much about them. I'm level 19, what should I get first?

[Red Wolf]

depends on what you want

[HuskyDynamics]

From what I've seen, the reefer can haul the widest variety of stuff (everything from the dry van and insulated, plus a few other things). The dry van and insulated are good as well, and are slightly lighter (though they can't hold as many different things).

If you want to change up what you haul without having to constantly pick up and drop off your trailer, I believe you should be able to get the flatbed and buy or sell the tarp as necessary to swap between flatbed and dry van loads. Not too practical though.

Lowboy trailers are obviously for heavy or oversized stuff, and container carriers, you guessed it, carry containers (and those little construction houses). Beyond that, the other trailers are all oriented towards specific types of loads, so probably aren't ideal for your first trailer. I'd recommend either a reefer or a flatbed.

As far as configuration, longer trailers will give you heavier loads and therefore more payment, but can be more difficult or annoying to back up or make turns with. As for the various chain types, I'd suggest checking out this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1807971507

Hope this helps!

[Ashes]

I agree with HuskyDynamics' breakdown. Personally, I prefer box trailers. Reefer's are obviously the best, insulated's a close second but I admittedly haven't tried the lowest cost Dry, so I'm not sure about its cargo availability, but it'd be noticeably less than the others. Trailer costs reflect the "rank" of quality in each category; box, flatbed, tanker, etc.. You pay for how high you want to play, Cadillac's are $$!, Pinto's, not so much, and the value of the trips available pretty much match the quality of your equipment. Nothing in life is free, so you'll get what you pay for, ie. don't expect six-figure-money trips if you can only use a Pinto.

I started with, and would suggest, a 53' Insulated box trailer with tandems forward which is legal in all states in ATS & its DLC's including California, but some states outside ATS states IRL require tandems back (which California forbids), dunno about any trailer body length restrictions in ATS states, but am pretty sure the 53' is safe everywhere, so going for a 48' or less just reduces your capacity and paydays, unless roads are more navigate-able with shorter stuff (ie. the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, etc.), and then investigating chain types (doubles, triples and specialist (read heavy haul) enter the picture and goes way beyond first purchase question. The 53' trailer config I described is what I made my first few million dollars with...no regrets, and it's 'middle of the road' to start with economically for box trailers.

Good luck, have fun and watch the dollars per load increase dramatically when you use all your own equipment (albeit, you now gotta maintain the trailers too, but that's barely noticeable considering the increased load rates).

Trailer ownership obviously reduces the amount of hook-up/drop-off's of trailers, reducing any 'difficulties' with such items if you even have any...heck I have an Anthem with over 90K miles on it that's never detached its 53' :). Not realistically intelligent lubrication-wise, but I won't tell if you don't.

[The Pitts]

Originally posted by sneaky:

I'm assuming that owning your own trailer ends up earning more money?

Ain't necessarily so. Using your own trailer means that you earn more money (roughly 10% extra per mile) for the same cargo hauled over exactly the same route, but the Cargo Market has its own set of jobs and finding exactly the same job is highly unlikely. Therefore you might get a higher profit job in any given location or you might be better off taking a job with a company-supplied trailer.

[anomaly.va]

Coming from a former truck driver (I am not sure if the previous posters might be), I can offer this...

Using your own trailer does indeed pay more. However, certain types of freight also pay more than others as well. Refrigerated trailers (reefers as they are often called), can haul things that others cannot. However, lowboys and flatbeds can haul things that others cannot.

Reefer freight pays more than dry van, and more plentiful than other types, IMO. And some HazMat, like explosives (pays well) requires temp control, which means a reefer.

Flatbed or lowboy freight is often oversize, and is considered specialized. Therefore, it generally pays more than reefer or dry van. But oversize loads are trickier to turn, and maneuver in tight quarters. The freight is generally slimmer pickings as well, in my experience, at least in this game.

Personally, I went all reefer. And though I started with the 53' tri-axle units with the drop/lift rear axle, I have since eliminated the third (drop/lift) axle, as they increase weight capacity, but make it harder to turn as well, especially when loaded. Spread-axle trailers (6 feet or more between axles) are also harder to turn, especially when loaded. Tandem axles with the tandems more toward the front will always turn better.

General rule, the closer your trailer wheels are to the rear doors, the further out you have to swing to clear other objects, because it takes more movement to change direction at such a rearward pivot point.

Not especially a consideration in this game to my knowledge, but IRL, this also helps take weight off the axles, but does transfer some of it to the drive wheels. Closer to the drive wheels will take weight off of the drive axles, but will also make the trailer turn faster.

I've done oversize / heavy haul in-game, and I've hauled refrigerated, HazMat and liquid IRL, so I'm no stranger to specialized freight, but I just think reefer is the best of both worlds -- better pay per load without the headaches of oversize.

Example: Say you have an offer of a load of 35,000 lbs of chicken.

If chicken sells for, say, $3.50 per lb, that load is worth over $120,000 on the retail end. So it is likely to pay more for transport, than say, 35,000 lbs of paper.

A typical ream of office-grade paper weighs 20 lbs, and one case contain 10 reams, for a weight of 21-22 lbs per case, including the box. Divide 35,000 lbs by 21 lbs, and you get 1,666 cases of paper, which retail for $36-$48 per case (brand-dependent). Twenty-one lbs of chicken at $3.50/lb, by comparison, is already eclipsing this by 32-51% at $73.50.

That comes to somewhere between $59,976 - $79,968, or $60,000-$80,000 retail sales for a 35,000-lb load of paper. AND, it can be hauled by any dry van trailer, no reefer required, so IRL, not only is the receiver / shipper unwilling to pay more, you're more likely to get undercut on such a load by a jackass who doesn't understand the business side of it. Perishables like meat, eggs, dairy and such are much more likely to be high-value loads, and therefore, pay better.

Anyway, as of this writing, I have over 2 dozen garages, over 100 trucks and drivers, over 120 trailers. Mostly 53' forward tandem axle reefers, with a handful of lowboys and flatbeds. I have a private 45' reefer that I keep for my own use. Pulling $2M per 7 days, and the reefers are used the most. I had one or two reefer triples, but they were a pain in the ass IMO, they're nearly impossible to back or maneuver, and you can only use them in a few states. Personally, I think larger single reefers give a better bang for the buck with less hassle - just my $0.02.

[Goggles56]

My vote goes to lowboys. A standard no options lowboy is inexpensive and you can get some really good paying loads in all states. The Forestry DLC goes really well with lowboys.

[jeffs9876]

Reefers and lowboys, followed by flatbeds. Think overall market but what I have done is look at the freight market for a particular city where I have a garage and see what cargoes or there and buy trailers accordingly.