Disconnect the doubles

[Dukeone]

Hm... a phantom helper could be the solution, like the guys that sits around and do nothing in some yards. Better they help us with the dolly!

[sch751]

Want to bump this post and add some feedback.

As far as moving the dolly around - IRL you typically wouldn't do this by hand over long distance. Most tractors used for doubles will have a pintle hook on the back (an accessory you could buy) that you can hook the dolly on and tow it behind. It's then just like maneuvering a really short trailer. Daycab with rear window is great for this. You can also back it attached to lead like in video but that requires skill and you can easily damage equipment if you're reckless.

Now as far as the game mechanics would go, here are most common scenarios and they can all be done using just the T key.
(Hold it to drop an entire set, tap for individual connections when you're close and lined up)

Pickups:
You get individual trailer assignments (highlight them in green like it is now) - Find a dolly in the yard, press T to hitch it to tractor. Pull up to your rear box, spot it at the nose then press T to drop the dolly. Go hook your lead trailer as usual. Back your lead up to the dolly in front of tail. Press T to hook dolly to lead. Reverse and couple tail. Done.
For the cargo market you would bring in your equipment, break it up, put trailers in doors and wait, then hook as above.

Delivery options:
1. Drop the whole set like we do now.
2. Drop the tail and leave it for a jockey to spot. Pull up drop dolly. Pull up drop lead.
2. Drop the tail and leave it for jockey to spot. Pull up drop dolly. Spot lead yourself.
3. Drop tail. Drop dolly in a designated area. Spot lead. Hook to tail and spot it too.

Some dollies have a support with a wheel that can keep them level with pintle hook so you don't need to animate a lifting motion or anything - just that support raising/lowering.


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[dahaka]

I'm not sure about Scandinavia, or the USA IRL, but I've seen those little container carrying doubles used in France. they look very much like the regular 2 small trailers that form the doubles in ATS.
The driver first decouples the rear trailer from the dolly. Then pulls the dolly still attached to the front trailer, from under the truck, and decouples it from the hook of the first trailer and parks it aside. Then he decouples the first trailer on a dock, then couples the second trailer and takes it to a dock. When loading/unloading is done, he takes the second trailer from the dock and decouples it, and pushes the dolly under it by hand. After than he couples the first trailer, and reverses it into the dolly, which gets pushed into position, coupling the dolly to the first trailer, and the second trailer to the dolly's fifth wheel, and hes good to go.
Ive heard stories in truck-stops, that you can reverse a trailer combination with 3 pivot points, but i never managed to do it in game, and don't think its possible either.

Now since in these games you cant get out and walk, the process would have to be solved in a different way. And the only way would be to either hook up the dolly with the first trailer, then reverse the whole thing onto the second trailer, or make the dolly be automatically attached to the second trailer when the loading is done, so you just have to reverse the first trailer into it.

Id love the feature. Also loading/unloading doubles both in ATS and ETS2 right now is unrealistic, and immersion breaking, you just enter the yard, park in a straight line, then the game flips your truck around automatically.

[aujagor]

Piggybacking on this, I've heard some dollies have air powered pin locks to keep them from 'steering' the rear trailer all out of whack when backing. May be something worth implementing, especially since it would allow for adding in the 'hard' parking option with double-pup loads. Just add a hotkey to pin the dolly straight for backing.

[flight50]

Want to bump this post and add some feedback.

As far as moving the dolly around - IRL you typically wouldn't do this by hand over long distance. Most tractors used for doubles will have a pintle hook on the back (an accessory you could buy) that you can hook the dolly on and tow it behind. It's then just like maneuvering a really short trailer. Daycab with rear window is great for this. You can also back it attached to lead like in video but that requires skill and you can easily damage equipment if you're reckless.

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Typically no you wouldn't move the dolly long distances. That is why you pull your truck close to where you need it and then detach it. But trying to reverse the dolly while attached is a nightmare. I disagree that it is like a short trailer. That thing is 10x worse than the shortest trailer a semi would ever haul. I use to work with these dolly. 20 years ago, I use to help one of our drivers that pulled doubles up to our company every night. He'd detach the dolly from the lead trailer, line the dolly up to the second trailer and run it into the pin. If it didn't go smoothly, we'd just jack up the trailer a tad bit more until it would go. It takes way too much skill to attempt to reverse a dolly while attached. This is not a problem for b-doubles though. The 5th wheel is part of the tandem setup.

But I support the feature if we could do this. If SCS does ever give us multiple drops, this feature to detach would have to come.

[francoisharvey38]

very interesting your idea, my to help the developer to create it, the hook must be sold in service garages in the following way; (front hook or rear hook for the truck.) (trailer hook.) because a lot of truck have a hook attach to the front bumper for ease the displacement of the dolly.of this way it only needs three function for make everything work. for the front or rear hook of the truck it has the same function (1st function: disconnect dolly / truck, this function opens the 2 hooks of the truck and disconnects the air lines of the dolly) because to attach the dolly to the truck or to the trailer just push the hook on the annot of the dolly and the hook will go off and connect the air lines of the dolly. (2nd function: disconnect dolly / trailer, this function only opens the hook at the rear of the trailer or trailers and disconnects the air line from the dolly) (3rd function, connect / disconnect the trailer of the dolly) and this open the door to buy single or multi-axle dolly for your company

[supersobes]

What about this dolly? The one on the left in this image, you can see that the front "arm" for lack of a better term is slanted down to the ground as if it has nothing to hold it up. It looks like it has a pivot point for when it is disconected from the trailer. This is the UPS Freight yard at Pittsburgh Airport, and by the looks of it, they disconect the doubles when they park them.

[SEMO76]

@ supersobes the front "arm" is actually a tounge. I've never understood why though. That style of dolly doesn't have the landing gear on it like some others do. It just sit on the ground but it is solid with the frame. The whole frame just tilts forward on the axles. Also you never leave a dolly under an unhooked pup. Safety Department is always afraid of one running away if left hooked up.

[Bandit & The Snowman]

I thoroughly support this feature idea.
However there have to be a few thoughts spent, for example how to deal with the separated parts when the player decides to leave them anywhere.

[marcf]

I think the simplest solution would be the dolly magically disappears (with a cutscene fading to black if necessary) so you can drop the first trailer where needed the return for the second trailer.

When departing with a double set that you have build, after connecting the first the dolly would appear on the second trailer that you would reverse to
Just pretend that the yard has a helper to add/remove the dolly as required, it's not the most unrealistic thing about the game (better than your truck magically flipped while unloading)

Also a potential bug unloading in one of the farm prefabs (Vineyard company?), if you go in with doubles/RMD/triples/TPD trailers, the usual spot is drive around the right side of the central shed, then loop around to the opposite side of the shed to unload facing the exit
Go through unload dialogue, and suddenly you're facing back at the farmhouse, not at the exit (where you could have just driven straight out)
- For this particular parking spot, no need to flip the truck/trailers after unloading