Heavy Cargo DLC - some thoughts

[Thorium Flakk Inc.]

I just got the heavy cargo DLC and I'm loving it (I'm at lvl 44). It's challenging alright. Took me half an hour (irl) to position the low loader to get the transformer, at Lisette Logistics in Paris. That's tight, not Trameri kind of tight, but tight nonetheless. And the stupid trailer's active steering doesn't help one bit in such tight scenarios. Sold the thing, I can apparently haul all that cargo the low beds that I have, too

One thing is a bit ... insane imho. Expected trip times for urgent deliveries. It's just next to impossible to drive 75-80 kph average speed with that tonnage. Even the strongest of engines (730hp Scania, 750hp Volvo) are struggling to reach 80 kph on the open highway, but that's nowhere near average, considering you need to slow down significantly in turns, exits or else you tip over or don't have enough distance to slow down or stop. And some (in-game) highways in EU will get you from 80 down to 50 to negotiate a turn even with much, much lighter cargo... That's 30kph with the Vossloh on me back, in rain....

I'm playing with more realistic settings of truck and trailer stability sliders all the way to the left, but still...

[ELT39]

I have some recommendations for you, sins it took you half an hour to just park the trailer, not to be rude or anything but that quite a long time, my Romanian friend took almost 10 minutes to do it, I did it in like 1 and a half or even less, just let the trailer do its thing, irl you can turn of the rear steering axels which would be a nice edition in-game ngl. But then we also come to your speed, I always go 5 over the limit as that is legal in most countries unless it is under 50 km/h then you need to be spot on or lower. I would also recommend instead of using the sliders in the menu, use the g_suspensionstiffness command, and put it at 0; g_suspensionstiffness 0. It will make your suspension softer i.e more realistic instead of bothering with the sliders, you can put it lower if you would like that as well but under -1 it just wobbles around. The 12-speed gearbox is to recommend but I guess you are using it but I usually in MP go driving with my Iveco Hi-Way with the 560 engine and 6-speed gearbox and 4x2 chassi, it works fine, just needs some time to get to speed tho it hates hills which is to be expected tho, but it works.

[Thorium Flakk Inc.]

Yes, it's long time. The space is very tight and I don't have enough experience yet with the trailer to know what angles I need for what turn radii... but it's a fun challenge. But that's Lisette Logistics. In open spaces like, say, LKW, I can park it inside of 1-2 minutes.

And it's not stiffness that I'm after (which I also reduced), but stability. The g_truck_stability and g_trailer_stability are already at 0.

That 4x2 560hp 6-speed Hi-Way is totally inadequate truck for heavy (30t+) cargo. IRL illegal, in-game even has huge issues with smallest slopes. We are, however, talking about hauling 40-80 tons here. That truck is a toy for that tonnage.

Just for fun I tried to haul a 47t transformer from Dover to Calais, in that truck. Going down A20 west from Dover to La Manche train station, pedal to the metal at the last roundabout in Dover, I was at the end of A20 when it finally reached 70 km/h, then I had to slow down for the S turn before the station. So the toy truck even proves exactly my point. By the time you reach average expected speeds, you're already having to brake down...

[Some newbie driver]

The problem with that truck is mostly the 6-speed gearbox plus a traction problem when hauling so much weight on a 4x2. With a 6x4 and another "normal" gearbox the same engine should had made the trip considerable better.

Consider that those same engines and Ivecos are used IRL in northern Italy to carry steel coils in combinations that sometimes arrive to 100t in total. The power transformer in the game should be a total combined weight around 65t.

Regards

[ELT39]

The reason why I have that combo is that I want a challenge as I find most of the time it really easy to haul and now I have started over legit in SP and have a Renault with the weakest engine and the weakest transmission and I'm currently hauling on what used to be YKS Turkey but now better know as Project Turky and I'm heading for some russian city in Southern Region so there are alot of hills and I'm doing a average of around 40-50 km/h as I'm hauling a Rex-Tex mobile crane

[Thorium Flakk Inc.]

I managed to deliver the 47t transformer from Marseille to Hamburg, with a 500hp Scania R (that's one level below the V8, I love the non-V8 sound of Scania in 1.39), 6x2/4 midlift. That was VERY tiresome. The section between Strassbourg to Mannheim? Taped down the throttle key, and went away to make a cup of coffee while the truck ascended at 10 km/h However, I somehow managed to deliver it in time. Wasn't urgent delivery, average speed was 43 km/h

Nah. I love hauling heavy cargo, but with 3500 Nm under my butt Even that is sometimes challenging with higher tonnages. It's not about driving fast as much as it's engine brake and the retarder, that I appreciate most with stronger engines.

[Thorium Flakk Inc.]

One more thing, not sure if that's a bug worth reporting, but Heavy cargo and trailer selection for some companies is wrong. MVM quarries in France, those smaller ones where you're forced to thread a needle, simply cannot have low loaders picking up or delivering heavies.

The trailers are too low for the steep slopes and tight curves of that place, or too long requiring attaching at an angle. Sure, it's doable with a lot of patience, some advanced thinking and sheer brute-force (picking up speed so you're not left hanging off the trailer as you climb a mini-hill), but is very much unrealistic. I had the trailer mid section literally underground a few times, or drive axles hanging in the air (Batisse wind farm construction yards, for example, that exit bump requires some speed). I'd suggest pickups or delivers are just outside the quarry on the approach roads, for heavy cargo, OR just don't ever offer low loaders, or cargo needing one (dozer crawl on a low bed has too high center of gravity, if you ask me).

I mean it's a fun challenge, just unrealistic for a simulation.