Back and forth jobs & jobs with multiple delivery stops

[RTobi]

Short description:
The idea combines the touch of having an own trailer and hauling several trailers for one specific company in one contract.
I'm thinking about a new job category which would be the back and forth jobs (or whatever name sounds better). One back an forth job consists of several deliveries you have to make from company "A" of "city1" to company "B" of "city2". On the way back from company "B" of "city2" you'll haul an empty trailer (one of those you unloaded there in the previous delivers of that back and forth job) to company "A" of "city1", there you pick up another trailer to "B of city" and so on (important at this point: see the example as well!).
The idea uses the existing trailers (slightly different "new trailers" could be added) and is based on mostly existing features. -> This is why I believe this should be pretty easy to program and actually give the game some new, fresh, different and more realistic gameplay.
I can't really judge how much effort that would be but I think it's definitely a lot of less effort than programming trailer ownership and it totally fits to the game if you think about it.
The (ATS) day cab trucks actually brought me on that idea as these kind of jobs are normal in the real world. Thinking about that idea brought me on the second one which is below.

Let me introduce the whole idea (use your imagination lol):
You're in the ATS (or ETS2 menu). When you click on the job market you currently have 3 options (Quick jobs; Freight Market; External Contracts). My idea would add a 4th option - the back and forth jobs (or whatever name is better).
You click on it and see pretty much the same job overview as in the other categories, just the job descriptions need to be changed a little. I'll come back to it in a few lines.
Main idea of the back and forth job and the example. After skipping through the job overview of that category you accepted one back and forth job. There may be a large info box popping up and showing you a short list which includes each of the trailers, its weight, time schedule and so on. In this example you will haul 7 trailers from the Phoenix Wallbert to the Flagstaff Wallbert. After each delivery you have to head back to the Phoenix Wallbert (with an empty trailer). The jobs are:
#1 TV's to Flagstaff Wallbert - return to Phoenix Wallbert with NO trailer (as the TV's get unloaded now)
#2 Beverages - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer - should be the same one you used in the previous job from Phoenix to Flagstaff (#1)
#3 Clothes - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer (from #2)
#4 Office supplies - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer (from #3)
#5 Computers - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer (from #4)
#6 Fruits - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer (from #5)
#7 Toys - return with an empty (or similar/ other) trailer (from #6)
>8 -> you just unloaded the empty trailer from #6 (transported the fruits, now empty) at the Phoenix Wallbert but the last trailer from job #7 is still in Flagstaff. Now you have to drive to Flagstaff without a trailer. Once arrived in Flagstaff you'll get trailer #7 (transported the toys, now empty) which you transport back to Phoenix Wallbert. That would be the last delivery of that one back and forth job.
You'll get paid after you completed the last delivery of that job. There will be a penalty if you cancel the back and forth job at some point (just like when you cancel regular jobs or damage trailers).
Every time you unloaded a trailer that small info box in the lower right of your screen will give you the information that your next trailer is ready, you'll then see it on the GPS. Your next trailer should spawn when you're in the area (at the same time as other trailers, trucks and cars spawn) so that you will see the empty trailer already when you arrive at the company.

The job overview will tell you pretty much the same as the current overview, only the amount of deliveries has to be added, the information about trailer weight need to be changed, and should tell you the range of the trailers [15,000lb (lightest) - 35,000lb (heaviest)]. The income should be the estimated final income for the whole back and forth job.

The "new" trailers which are needed would look the same as the current ones, only their weight needs to be changed. That could also be done with other cargo such as diggers, bulldozers, cables, .. which use the same basic trailer. SCS would only need to create a "new" empty flatbed trailer and change it's weight. Then players would be also able to transport heavy machinery on the back and forth job principle (e.g. 1 excavators and a digger to a road construction zone).


2nd part of the idea:
A similar idea is about round trips based on reality as well. Just imagine Phoenix Wallbert would give you a 45,000lb trailer loaded with computers. You have to deliver them to several smaller northern Arizona communities and cities, e.g. Holbrook, Page, Grand Canyon Village and Kingman. You have to stop at certain companies in each of the cities which I just named (where some of the computers will be unloaded). After parking the trailer you can press enter, you'll see a black screen shortly with the time changing (just like you were sleeping), you hear sleeping, conversation or unloading noises. You wake up and got the next delivery point on your GPS. After you unloaded the last computers in the last city you return to Phoenix Wallbert where you unload the empty trailer -> end of the round trip job (or better name).
I doubt that in reality, smaller communities like Grand Canyon Village (or Tusayan which is the next closest town to Grand Canyon Village) will always take full trailers of certain goods. Plus day cab trucks are also used for such deliveries, aren't they?

The cities, companies and trailers are just examples, remember that. Not sure how many jobs the back and forth/ round trip market should have and how common these jobs should be.

Of course, that could be added as an extended job market DLC which might get a lot of sales if the price isn't too high.

I've already mentioned that idea in my daily missions/ rewards idea which can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=213543

[PW4056]

Only thing I don't like about the second part is the requirement to go back to the point of departure. Unless you're doing dedicated, regional, or local, it isn't entirely realistic, and even then, unless your deliveries weren't very far in the first place, it's not often that you would deadhead back to your point of departure. Usually, they would find a load for you to pick up somewhere near your final stop.

[room217au]

There's a mod here that allows you to pick and choose your own routes/cargo. It works for ETS2 and the author is currently porting it to ATS.

[Xaagon]

I like some of these ideas, but I think they are too complicated to have probable inclusion in the game. I would like to see empty trailers at some point, as that's a reality that truckers have to deal with in real life, but I envisioned the empty trailer being introduced at a point when players are allowed to buy their own trailers (like in the old 18 Wheels of Steel series).

As an alternative idea to this, I would suggest implementing LTL (less than load) in two possible ways:

1. You pick up a load at customer A (for example, Walbert distribution center) and make multiple deliveries with the same trailer to customer B, C, D, etc. (for example, Walbert and Eddy's standalone stores).

2. You pick up loads at multiple customers with the same trailer (for example, S Crop, Bushnell, Darchelle Uzau, etc.) and make one delivery to the final customer (for example, Sell Goods or Walbert distribution center).

In either case, payment would be made at the end of the final delivery and the trailer is left behind at that point.

[Axel Slingerland]

...it's not often that you would deadhead back to your point of departure.

Yep... My Father was a trucker for years and he hated doing that. Hauling an empty trailer makes nothing and costs a ton of lot.

[azgoodaz]

Double stop contracts; a different taste on pick up/delivery, more time playing and more money.

1) Trucker selects the contract
2) Picks up the empty trailer (probably from a rental or a supermarket that has an extra trailer not in use)
3) Drives the trailer to the new location (probably the warehouse)
4) Press 'F' or 'R?' to unlock and open the trailer doors
5) Wait a few minutes for the cargo to be loaded
- You (SCS) can create a countdown of how long it will take to load. You could also be shown that it's loading via the trailer when the doors open and you will randomly see cargo appear in the trailer until the trailer is filled up.
6) Press 'F' or 'R?' to close and lock the trailer doors
7) Deliver the trailer to the new location

With these contracts, you can make more money than a normal contract (if it's already loaded), but it will take a longer time to do this contract just because of picking up the trailer and waiting for the cargo to be loaded.

Just like with my past suggestions. It will add some more variety to the game.

[Axel Slingerland]

Based on several of your suggestions, I think you should review the Feature Wishlists and Suggestions Guidelines for ETS2 and make individual threads for each individual idea, with polls to determine interest, or the lack of it, so SCS can see what people think about them. A quick glance at a poll is the best way to show SCS what the members here think, because while quite a few SCS employees come here and read posts on the forum, they don't have time to read the entirety of every thread on the forum to see what people think. It takes a lot of man hours to do that.