I agree with both of the previous posts and I am going to add my two cents.
The addition of Multi-Drop Loads (LTL) would go hand in hand with three other features, weight restrictions/proper scales, sliding trailer axles and trailer washouts. I will quickly touch on them before talking about LTL.
As far as scales go, they should respect state weight laws which vary from state to state and
can be found here. Also, inspections should be randomized instead of happening on the platform. The implementation would require users to actually pay attention to how much cargo was being loaded and where it is loaded. I could dive deeper into this but that is for another topic.
This leads into the sliding of the trailer axle and maybe even the fifth wheel. This is both for both weight legality and trailer legality. Currently the options (on 53’ trailers) are full forward (Illegal in Maryland, Quebec and possibly others) or Full Rear (illegal in California and almost every state on the east coast and Canada). Now this information is harder to find from official sources although I’m not great with internet searches. Again, I could dive deeper into this but that is for another topic.
Trailer washouts (interior only) should be added. Certain cargos require a Trailer to be washed before being loaded. I could really dive into this one but that’s all I say.
I mentioned those two items because if there is consideration into implementing them the they should be taken into account when implementing LTL regardless of which is added first.
Onto the main topic at hand.
Trailers
There are 4 types of trailers: Volume, General Cargo, Vehicle and Custom
Custom
Custom Trailers are trailers that have been built for a specific purpose and can’t be used on any other type of load. None of them can be used in LTL or can be purchased by the player. They will not be mentioned again. These include Frac trailer, mobile barrier, special job trailers, etc.
Volume
Volume trailers would be trailers such as tankers, hopper, lumber, etc. Volume would be the simplest to implement when dealing with LTL as all that would need to be done would be set a load percentage and add a weight per percentage.
Liquid tankers would need a sloshing variable added which would decrease stability. Possibly more tank designs could be added and multi compartment tanks.
More solid Cargos such as grain probably would act the same as current trailers.
Lumber would be a bit different as Volume would be added in set chunks instead of any interval like the other cargos. All in all, it would function the same.
General Cargo
General Cargo trailers would be defined as Dry Van, Reefer, Container and flatbed. I’ve grouped them together because for the most part, they can all haul the same product (and I’ve seen them all haul the same product). Of course, reefer and flat bed have some unique products.
Loading of General
I like the trailer layout posted above, the biggest tweak I would make would be adding a center slot on each column that would overlap the other two, that way cargo could be centered. This is useful for weight distribution and for truck stability. To make things extra complicated I am also going to suggest half sized pallets that could be stacked on top of one another, but that may be too much.
Each slot would represent one skid (pallet) of cargo. If a skid was placed in a center slot it would make the other two slots invalid. Some cargo is wider or longer than (or both) than one skid and would take up as many slots as required. Each type of cargo would have a weight, value and center mass defined per unit.
Vans, Reefers and containers can also be volume loaded however in some cases this could increase unload time. General freight often times is loaded from floor to roof when being distributed to retail stores. It is usually offloaded by store employees. This is beneficial for load stability and for fitting as much in as possible. Company’s such as Goya or Sysco that service restaurants and small businesses Generally volume load their trucks as most of their delivery’s only consist of 5-20 boxes and are hand-bombed off the truck by the drivers. I also picked up a load of sweet potatoes that were loaded onto the floor of my truck via conveyor belt. When I delivered the load, they were offloaded with a skid steer with a bucket on. Took me a couple hours to clean all the potato out of the trailers floor rails. Furniture might also be considered volume loaded
Certain types of product can’t be transported with other product (like dangerous chemicals next to food) and in other situations customers might not allow products to be transported with other products (Walmart won’t accept a skid of pineapples on the back of a load of stinky fish but joe blow in the middle of Idaho might). Temperature controlled loads would (obviously) only be able to be transported in a reefer trailer and larger cargo would only be allowed on Flatbeds
Volume loading would allow more cargo onto a truck allowing for more picks/drops but would require more time to unload (which would be scaled to the percentage unloaded). It would also have less possible load types. Skid loading would be faster and have all cargo types but it would reduce the maximum amount of carriable cargo.
Dry Van
Dry Van trailers are simple and straight forward. They would allow loading of all cargo that does not require temperature control or is too large.
Reefer Trailers
Reefers would allow the loading of all cargo unless it is too large. There are 3 Types of reefer trailers: Single temp, Dual Temp and Triple temp. Each unit has 1, 2, and 3 different compartments respectively. Multi temp trailers have an adjustable wall inside that can be moved to adjust compartment size, which is good both for saving fuel or for transporting more of one temp than the other. The wall can also be removed to reduce the number of compartments. Cargo that could be transported in a reefer trailer would have both minimum and maximum temperature values set. For example, Frozen Peas and empty pallets in the same compartment would be fine, but TV’s and Frozen Peas wouldn’t.
Flatbed
Flatbeds are fairly simple as well. They can’t be volume loaded and can’t take certain cargos that are too unstable or require temperature control. I would also like to see some more variety of loads.
Containers
Containers are a bit of an unusual one because they are technically two trailers in one. Containers are loaded onto an intermodal trailer which mean the cargo could be either/both the container or the cargo within it. Some intermodal trailers have adjustable lengths so if sliding axles are added this should also be added. The intermodal trailer could have 2 slots which would allow for two shorter containers to be housed on it.
Some company’s use containers as if they were just regular trailers while others use them for there intended purpose, rail and sea transport. Containers can be dry, Reefer or Tanker.
Vehicle
Vehicle Trailers would be much simpler again. Truck trailer 1 vehicle = 1 slot. Car Trailer would have over lapping large/small slots.
Logistics
Loading
I touched on loading in previous sections but to summarize There are two types of loading Volume and Slot. Volume based loading would require multiple compartments to load multiple types of cargo when Loading loose things such as liquids, dirt, produce, etc. Volume based loading would not require multiple compartments to load multiple cargo types when dealing with boxed objects. Reefer compartments would not count as separate compartments in terms of volume loaded cargo. Volume based cargo would require no input from the user. Load and unload times would vary based on location, type of cargo and volume of cargo.
Slot based loading requires available slots to be able to load cargo onto the truck. When loading cargo a options prompt would appear in the same way it does when parking a trailer. The options for loading could be as follows: Automatic loading, Auto fast loading, Semi Auto, Full custom.
Automatic loading would auto load the cargo in the truck based on closest destination, with the farthest destination being at the nose. The down side to this as it may take longer to load due to extra skids being moved around.
Auto Fast would be loading the cargo in the closest slot that’s nearest to the nose of the trailer. This would allow the shortest loading times but could result in longer loading times if the first delivery gets buried in the nose. It could be beneficial to use auto fast until the last pick up and then use auto to re arrange the whole trailer.
Semi Auto would allow users to customize the destination order. If auto is selected after selecting semi auto, a prompt should come up asking whether to ignore previous custom order or continue to use the custom delivery order. Semi Auto should also have a selection of common loading patterns which would change depending on the load. These would also be added when picking up Full loads.
Custom would allow the user full control on the placement of skids within the truck bringing up a second window which would allow cargo to be dragged and dropped accordingly.
Unloading would have the same prompt but there would be no fast option.
Load/unload times should vary from location to location and would be based on total skids moved not on cargo unloaded. I also think custom (self) loading/unloading could have a lower time penalty than getting the customer to do it. Or possibly add a purchasable certification that would reduce self load time.
Logistics
I would love to see a micromanagement mode where you could select cargo, dispatch drivers, upgrade depots/buy warehouses. I could run down this rabbit hole and write a million words on how to implement it but something this complicated, in my opinion, shouldn’t be looked at until more of the map is completed. I’d be more than happy to write a post about it though. If a micromanagement mode isn’t added I think that ai employees should only work with full loads.
In terms of the way things currently work, there should be a few main ways LTL is implemented.
Full Load Pick. This would be picking up a load from a shipper. They would have a trailer pre loaded and they would have multiple delivery locations and the trailer would be left at the final drop.
Full Load delivery. This would be a bit different than how the game currently works. This could involve picking up an empty trailer at the receiver, then driving around the map making pickups before returning to the receiver. Of course, the simpler way would be having the first pick up just have the trailer there.
When a driver owns their own trailer things would change a little bit. You would either be able to accept a route, which would be a pre defined route that was mentioned above, or you would be able to build-your-own-load so to speak. The main difference between route selection with or with out a trailer would be if you owned your own trailer you would always start at the first pick and would not need to go to the receiver first.
Build-Your-Own-Load
This would implement a new cargo screen which would show all the available cargo similar to the way it is displayed now. In addition to the current information, it would also have weights, Slots required, and compatibility. There would be an option to view all available cargo or only view cargo that would fit in current trailer. This would mean cargo that requires too much space or cargo that can’t be shipped with other cargo would not show up.
An option to multi select cargo would be needed as well as a calculator output at the bottom of the screen that would show total cargo value and total cargo weight. Total cargo weight is not the same as Gross Vehicle weight. If weight restrictions are added than an option for new users that could calculate GVW and stop a driver from selecting cargo if it maxed out the vehicle. Of course, for more experienced users, or users that don’t care about fines, this would be ignored and a driver could run over weight if they so choose. Adding this would also allow the game to become a fantastic training tool for people looking to become a real driver. A user would be able to select new cargo to add to there list at endpoint during there trip which could result in a trailer never being empty as they could be picking up as fast as they deliver.
Multi Trailers
Multiple trailers Should be changed so that each trailer is its own entity instead of being one prefab. Each trailer would be able to hold its own cargo. Only certain trailers would be able to hitch a trailer behind it, however the last trailer in the train could be any existing trailer. It would be possible for users to build their own trains that would break all the rules and result in large fines for being over length. Trailers that would be able to support a trailer behind them would have an additional bumper option added when configuring the trailer which would allow trailers to be pinned up. I don’t see any need in simulating the dolly and It should appear when connecting the trailers together.
As far as delivering goes, LTL wise, there would be two ways, the whole trailer, or the load inside. In order to complete the delivery, the other trailers would need to be removed from the train and left somewhere like a truck stop. The only exception to this rule would be if a user was dropping the full trailer and int was the trailer on the end of the train.
Coupling and uncoupling would be different too. I think the current Uncouple button would be used to un pin the tractor from the train. A new hot key would be use to unpin the last trailer in the train. There would also be an option in the route advisor to unpin at a custom location within the train. This could be done by simply showing numbers with 1 being the connection of the train to the tractor. Coupling of multiple trailers could either be automatic or using the coupled/uncouple last trailer button. It might also be beneficial to have could be one and uncoupling be another so that way if trailers are not lined up a user doesn’t accidently drop a trailer. If a user builds an illegal combination of trailers than a warning should come up on the route advisor.
Building Trains in this way would also open up the possibility of picking up multiple full loads with other company’s trailers.
Other
LTL Skill
LTL should have a skill added in the same way as other cargo types. This would both unlock it and give a percentage bonus per level increased.
GPS
The GPS would need to be altered to adjust for LTL.
I have suggested improvements for the GPS before but those were rather generic. The GPS would be set to either automatic or manual. Automatic mode the GPS would select the best route based on routing selection and with manual the user would select the route.
When selecting multiple picks multiple way points would appear on the GPS map. Pick up point would show up in one color and delivery points would show up in another. Numbers would appear on each of the nodes representing the order selected. Custom waypoints would be able to be placed between nodes and possibly an option to alter the order. Delivery nodes would be number automatically when using automatic or semi auto loading mode. When using custom mode then delivery nodes would be numbered based on position of cargo, but would be able to be overridden with custom routing.
An option that I said in my other GPS post about being able to toggle between total trip time and time till next waypoint would also be needed.