Overview
Description of vehicles, their purpose, tips on usage, some ideas about setting up more realistic controls
Introduction
When I started to play this wonderful game I had lots of questions about various aspects. Surprisingly there is very little information and very few guides, especially in English language.
Among other things I was struggling with sorting out which vehicle is for what and what is the difference between the trailers. While generally it’s obvious that excavators are for digging and trucks are for moving stuff, there still was much to learn. So I thought it might be a good idea to write a guide about vehicles. I had been postponing it for a while, but then read in discussions that the next day was going to be the second anniversary of this game, and decided it would be great to celebrate it this way.
This is my first guide, so it is going to be a simple one, but it should help new players who, like myself just a while ago, might get lost in the variety, especially if they start with all the DLCs.
Realistic controls
In real life a lot of these vehicles are controlled with joysticks, so if you have two avia sim joysticks, you can set up controls for many vehicles in the most realistic way. I know someone actually did so for excavator, remember reading about it in discussions. If you have a gamepad, you can probably use it’s sticks similar to joysticks.
Though to make any of it actually realistic you also need to know which joystick does what and by moving in which direction. Now here comes the tricky part. The game features joystick animation that looks really nice. Too bad it’s wrong… While some functions are represented correctly, others are not. I used to rely on animation for figuring out realistic controls until I found out about this flaw.
I am doing my best to find information about how all these vehicles are controlled in real life (not just the joysticks), and trying to figure out ways of setting up more or less realistic controls for the game, even if keyboard is the only option. As I progress, respective sections are filled with such information.
There is an option that lets you choose a control scheme (choice between “default” and “Euro”). All it does is resets excavator controls to premade default values for control, nothing else. So you can just set up controls yourself according to your liking and not bother with this option at all. If you ever change the option, it will just reset several of your controls. Also it will remember your changes for arm controls made under “Euro” setting and consider those new default values for Euro mode, so even if you reset all controls in the game to default, the “Euro” setting will remain what you set it to. Actually I noticed that on a new profile “Euro” seems to be realistic mapping for WASD and arrow keys initially. But with the way all this assignment and reset works it’s easy to get confused and/or forget what it initially had been, so the most reliable thing is to map controls yourself.
Not having joysticks myself, I decided to at least set up keyboard controls in the more realistic way. So ESDF (you can use WASD or anything else if you like) represents the left joystick for me, and Numpad 8,4,5,6 — the right (might actually use “2” instead of “5”). This way hands are on even level and far enough apart, though some people may be more comfortable with arrow keys. It doesn’t really matter where you choose to place these controls, it’s rather about which function to assign to which.
General notes
At the beginning you have 4 vehicles: Small Flatbed Truck, Deposit Tipper, Small Excavator and Small Trailer. These cannot be sold, ever. However, the types of these vehicles are not unique, you can buy more if you want, and those can be sold for 75% just like everything else. It’s just the particular 4 starting ones that will always remain in your company. After you move to the city and economy cycle starts to work, all vehicles you have, including the starting ones, will add up to monthly financial statement. You can see in a vehicle’s description how much it costs to maintain. There are 2 numbers: one for insurance and one for maintenance. Each of these actually equals to 1% of the purchase price. Note however that monthly statement among other expenses has Lease. And apart from 10,000 basic rent for company premises it increases by 500 for every vehicle you own that is not inside the vehicles’ hall. This is so called “…[premises’] maintenance based on usage”.
You buy vehicles from Vehicle Dealer, and there are icons in the list there, with some numbers. These icons show what type of task a vehicle is associated with and the tier of such task. Jobs also have similar icons, and in order to accept a job you have to own vehicles of required tier or higher. Tiers are important for cranes and excavators; concrete, drilling, rolling, bulk cargo and container tasks have no tiers; other transportation is mostly limited by what cargo or vehicles can adequately be placed onto a trailer or a truck.
Note that having vehicles with sufficient tiers only makes jobs available, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easily accomplishable or that you will be able to complete it yourself. There are some exceptions, however a hired worker can complete any stage, because they don’t do any actual work like you, but rather simply fill a progress bar. And they don’t need vehicles for this, you can even sell a required vehicle after accepting a job — and virtual worker would still be able to do it. Tested with heavy cargo transportation jobs, though it also causes some glitches regarding shown requirements, so it’s probably best to avoid such exploits.
All cargo being loaded (except when using a forklift) can be controllably rotated CW and CCW. In real life this would only be possible when there is someone near the load to do so or if particular vehicle has a specific feature for additional control.
If you secure cargo after loading (“interact” key while near the loaded cargo), it won’t fall off no matter what. If something is not loaded properly, you will receive a message and load won’t be secured until you load properly and attempt to secure again. You can put cargo in layers and it will secure as long as everything is loaded properly (doesn’t hang off and is placed horizontally). In-game allowed number of layers is 3 for standard palettes and at least 4 for low profile materials like rebar. I don’t know what is the realistic allowed limit, the way it looks when secured in the game I’d say 2 layers of palettes. If you put too many layers, the top cargo will be ignored (probably because it’s too far from the truck to be considered a part of the load), you will not get a message preventing cargo secure, but the ignored cargo (say, 4-th layer of palettes) will remain loose and will likely fall off.
If you have difficulty with loading because previously loaded things start to fall off, you can use a trick: secure the cargo, load another unit, detach cargo and then reattach it again, this time with the new unit included. Though it’s not realistic to do so.
If a load is supplied in cages (for example, wall panels), after bringing it to construction site you first take a cage out, then detach cargo from it (interact while close to it), then take the cargo out from cages. Cages can be sold for 100 each, otherwise will disappear when the job is completed.
You don’t necessarily have to use Concrete Pump. Any crane in the game (except flatbed truck’s) can pour concrete by using a Concrete Bucket. You can buy it from Materials Trader, fill it from Mixer, and then use a crane to move and pour. In many cases it is easier to use cranes for pouring, however bucket only has about 20% of Mixer capacity and therefore has to be refilled from time to time, while a Concrete Pump can accept concrete from Mixer continiously while pouring. Concrete is only spent if there is a valid recipient, you don’t actually loose anything by pouring for too long over a place that already received all it needed (but you loose a little bit that is already falling, if you stop pouring while over such place).
Now let’s have a look at the vehicles and see which ones are for what.
Small Flatbed Truck
Can transport all kinds of materials from Materials Trader, Nursery (gardening stuff) and sawmill. Can lower side panels to be loaded with a forklift, or you may use another vehicle with crane for loading.
Can transport bulk earth from and to Gravel Plant, has capacity of 4 cubic meters, unloads by raising platform. You can also unload other cargo in this manner, but in real life this might damage it. And even if not, people wouldn’t be happy with chaoticaly dropped palettes.
Can attach Small Trailer or Generator Trailer (commodity that a few missions ask to bring to construction site).
Deposit Tipper
Can deploy outriggers for better stability when loading or unloading a full container, though it’s not required in the game.
Can attach Small Trailer and Generator Trailer. May have difficulty towing Small Trailer with Small Excavator on steep incline.
Now all Large Excavators and Mobile Cranes can lift containers with their hooks, so you don’t necessarily have to use Deposit tipper. You can load a Container onto a flatbed platform and transport it along with other materials. It’s even possible to put something into the container while doing so!
Only found a video of a similar vehicle loading a container. Levers for boom and outriggers are located outside. When you face the controls:
upper lever: push up to deploy the boom, this turns arm towards container; push down to bring it back towards the truck;
lower lever(s): push down to extend outriggers, push up to retract.
So far I haven’t found information about arm extension controls.
Small Excavator
Tier 1 digger for small excavation jobs, usually gardening or laying drain pipes. Has tier 1 lifting capability, which is usually used in tutorial and early missions, when you don’t have a crane.
Is not supposed to be driven on roads, but is rather transported on Small Trailer. There is no penalty for driving it on roads, but even if you don’t care about realism, it will take quite a while to get somewhere.
Real excavators generally use one of two control schemes. They have the same control for turning around and operating bucket, but exchange 1-st and 2-nd arm controls between the joysticks.
Left joystick: left and right controls rotation just like in the game; forward extends the second arm (part closer to bucket), backward retracts it.
Right joystick: left “closes” the bucket, right tips it over like in the game; forward lowers the first arm (part closer to the cab), backward raises it up.
Alternative scheme uses right joystick’s forward/backward to control 2-nd arm, while the 1-st arm is controlled by left joystick’s forward/backward movement. Otherwise identical, and in both schemes 2-nd arm is extended by pushing joystick forward while 1-st arm is raised by pulling it’s joystick backwards. So the only difference is about whether 2-nd arm control sits with bucket on the right or with turning on the left.
Some excavators even have a switch so that operators could easily choose their prefered controls. I don’t know which one is used in these WB and Liebherr excavators, but probably the first one.
In-game animation of joysticks is not correct regardless of what scheme you try to compare it to, but matches turning and bucket controls.
Tracks are generally controlled with two separate large levers in the middle. Pushing or pulling such lever translates into respective track moving in that direction. And it looks like pedals are commonly attached there too, so that movement could be controlled with feet.
Everything in this section applies to Large Excavator as well, of course, with the only exception that Large Excavator only has pedals in center.
Small Trailer
Can be attached to some trucks, used mainly in early game (or even in tutorial only) to transport Small Excavator. Has a retractable ramp for vehicles (the excavator). You can also load usual cargo on it, just like on a flatbed.
Like all trailers has an outrigger that has to be lowered before uncoupling and raised before moving. Note that if you forget to retract the ramp and try to move with this trailer, a message will appear saying that outriggers have to be retracted, even though it is the ramp.
Flatbed Truck with Crane
Most likely the first vehicle you buy. It is a larger version of Small Flatbed Truck, but can’t raise platform and therefore is not suitable for bulk earth. Even if you bring a shovel full of earth above and try to empty it, a message will appear saying that unloading is not allowed. It has a serious advantage though in the form of tier 1 crane with significant reach, which means it can load itself, as well as unload at reasonable distance from target without having to rely on other cranes. Very good for delivering materials, especially in singleplayer, because there are no other vehicles with self loading capability.
Crane has some deadzone where it can’t reach and therefore can’t put smaller cargo, only the longer things like rebar and logs. This deazone is less on the left side and the most between the middle and right. Gets worse with higher layers. Here is a screenshot illustrating it. To load it like this you need to fully extend 1-st arm and with fully retracted boom lower cargo with the 2-nd arm.
Real trucks with crane manipulator have a row of levers outside on the manipulator, which can be located behind the cab (like in the game) or behind the platform. Location, orientation and configuration of levers depend on manipulator model but generally it’s either vertical row with levers being moved left/right or horizontal row with levers being moved up/down. Some manipulators have controls on both sides for convenience.
Levers for outrigger controls may be located in the same row or in a separate block, plus there may be a separate lever for each stage of outrigger deployment (say, one for moving away from truck, another for rotation towards ground, yet another for moving down), and each outrigger may be controlled individually. I have no idea which of these options are more or less common and for which it’s mandatory, suspect it might be for individual control of outriggers.
From what I managed to see while watching various videos here is the lever functions for manipulator that has a similar set of functions to the one present in the game:
1-st lever: up to rotate CW, down for CCW;
2-nd lever: down to raise first arm, up to lower it;
3-rd lever: up to raise second arm, down to lower;
4-th lever: boom extension (couldn’t see directions, but suspect that “up” to extend, down to retract);
5-th lever: outrigger up/down;
6-th lever: outrigger extend/retract from/to truck.
Lowboy Truck
Used to tow semi-trailers, can’t do anything on it’s own.
R 936 Crawler Excavator
Previously known as Large Excavator, it was renamed when a new dlc added more excavators to the game.
A tier 2 digging machine. Don’t get confused, it’s the maximum for actually digging, almost every reasonable digging is done with it. Also has tier 2 lifting capability, so can be used as crane, when Flatbed Truck with Crane can’t lift something, but has limited reach. It’s not a crane!
As a nice bonus, it’s hook is compatible with Containers, so instead of using Deposit Tipper you can put a Container onto a flatbed for transportation using any large excavator’s hook.
R 936 can be transported with Lowboy Trailer or Heavy-duty Trailer.
Now it’s not the largest excavator in the game, but personally I love this workhorse more than the new ever shiny R 956.
For realistic controls see Small Excavator section.
A 918 Wheeled Excavator (DLC8: Liebherr A 918)
The main addition of the eighth expansion, the long awaited wheeled excavator doesn’t require special transportation and can reach construction sites by itself (with someone driving, of course). If you want to be realistic, don’t drive it on autobahn, because being a slow vehicle (42 km/h) it’s not allowed there.
In addition to controls similar to other excavators in the game, Wheeled Excavator has ajustable boom angle, which can be helpful, but requires some getting used to.
While formally a tier 2 digger, it doesn’t feel enough for serious digging, especially after some missions got much larger excavation areas. Moreover, it’s quite bouncy and has a tendency of getting launched into air, when it touches something wrong.
It could have become a good choice for early game, when you are still in the village and only have space for 2 additional vehicles, but it’s unpredictable in-game behavior makes Small Excavator a much better option for all small digging tasks. There is only 1 early job that requires a tier 2 digger and therefore can be unlocked with A 918, but the actual digging in that job is easily accomplished with Small Excavator, so you can just buy R 936 at that point to get access to the job and keep it parked at the dealer until you relocate to the city and get a suitable semi-trailer for transportation.
As of this moment I see only one application for Wheeled Excavator in the game: to satisfy curiosity and let you waste 35000 (the difference between purchase and resell).
R 956 Crawler Excavator (DLC8: Liebherr A 918)
Added in the 8-th expansion, this excavator is even larger than R 936 (formerly known as Large). It has double bucket capacity and also weighs much more. You will need a Heavy-duty Trailer for it, and even then it’s a little tricky to load it onto the platform, because tracks are very wide. On a lowboy trailer it would not only be unrealistic, but also wouldn’t go under traffic lights.
R 956 is very impressive at digging, but due to high costs and complicated transportation good old R 936 can often be a better choice, especially during early stages of the game.
It should be noted that digging behavior of R 956 is more realistic (and therefore more skill demanding) in the game, and I much appreciate this. In my opinion it’s the best addition of DLC8.
But for some reason it causes game performance decrease when in digging mode. Just switching modes causes it, and when you actually start digging, it can get very serious. Fps counter might show 50, but it feels more like 20 or 15. Let’s hope this performance issue will get fixed in the future.
Roller
Used to compress surfaces, usually in one of the first stages of construction. Don’t forget to turn the compression on.
Can be transported with Lowboy Trailer or Heavy-duty Trailer.
Small Half Pipe Truck
Specialized truck for moving bulk earth, has capacity of 13 cubic meters.
There are many variations of controls for tipping on dump trucks, but in each case there are several steps, only one of which is present in the game. The lever for this can be oriented in different ways, but in general it is pull backwards to dump, push forward to bring platform back. “Forward” can be towards windshield or towards passenger seat, but the idea is in either case you perform a pulling move for dumping mode.
Half Pipe Truck
Same as Small Half Pipe, but has 20 cubic meters capacity. Has slower acceleration, especially with full load, and is less agile in general.
Concrete Mixer
Essential for concrete missions. Before introduction of Mixer Semi-Trailer it was the only way to get concrete. Has capacity of 9 cubic meters, loads at Gravel Plant, unloads via a chute. Note that by itself it can only pour concrete at near ground level and not far. There are few pouring concrete missions you can do with just the mixer, even fewer realistically (without driving the mixer over laid rebar and through recently poured concrete).
Concrete Pump
Pours concrete, has very limited capacity, so is usually used with Concrete Mixer.
Wheel Loader
A tier 3 digging machine, but don’t let this mislead you: it’s not meant for digging and it would be extremely hard to use it this way. Also it doesn’t qualify as a prerequisite for digging tasks, you still need a Large Excavator to be able to accept certain jobs. Again, don’t let tier 3 dig icon mislead you.
Wheel Loader is intended for gathering piles of earth left after excavation and drilling work. Not really useful in the game apart from roleplaying. Some players park it at the Gravel Plant to get free earth instead of paying for it.
Mobile Crane
A tier 3 crane, very powerful and agile with 3 steerable axis. As a crane it is much faster than the one on the Flatbed Truck. One might think “why use tower cranes that have to be delivered, when there is a more powerful mobile crane?” While a really great vehicle, it reaches everything from the ground, so when placing a lot of things (say, panels) on a building it would have to relocate many times around the building, and even then might have trouble reaching certain places with it’s boom.
As a very nice bonus, it’s hook is compatible with Containers now (iirc it hasn’t always been this way).
Left joystick: left/right to turn in that direction; forward to extend telescopic boom, backward to retract it.
Right joystick: left to raise boom, right to lower it; forward to move hook down, backward to move hook up.
Fast-erecting Crane 81K
Previously known as Tower Crane. Used for unloading cargo on construction site, pouring concrete (with bucket), placing wall panels. Has advantage over higher tier Mobile Crane in that it reaches from above.
Stationary vehicle, has to be ordered at construction site that has a designated place for a crane. Tower Crane is then delivered from your Home Base to the site for 3000. After job is finished, returns to Home Base automatically and places itself on some parking spot.
DLCs added some jobs for which Tower Crane is not high enough. And even in normal jobs sometimes it can’t reach the far side of the building. That is why the Flattop crane is much more popular.
Left joystick: push forward to send trolley away, pull backwards to bring it back; left and right to turn the crane in that direction.
Right joystick: push forward to lower hook, pull backwards to raise it.
Other controls like brakes, gear changes and such are not simulated in the game. And in-game animation of joysticks is misleading, reversed for forward/backward directions.
Flattop Crane (DLC1: Liebherr 150 EC-B)
Added in the first expansion, Flattop Crane is similar in function to Tower Crane, but is much higher (suitable for every job in terms of height) and has much greater reach (can reach every part of the building and pretty much everything on the site). With exactly the same costs as Tower Crane, Flattop is much more popular.
For realistic controls see Tower Crane section. Flattop Crane doesn’t have animation for joysticks, which is not so bad considering it’s misleading behavior in Tower Crane.
Fast-erecting Crane L1 (DLC8: Liebherr A918)
Another tower crane was added in the 8-th expansion. It doesn’t have a cab and is operated from the ground level. However, in-game your character model will disappear as if there were some invisible cab somewhere.
This crane is cheaper than other tower cranes and has halved delivery cost (1500 instead of 3000), but it’s usefulness is very questionable due to low height and extremly limited reach. Perhaps it is intended as a cheap early solution for residential sector jobs (some of these have a spot for a tower crane)? But even then I am not sure if it’s reach would be enough.
Rotary Drilling Rig (DLC2: Liebherr LB 28)
Added in second expansion, this gigantic machine is used for drilling ground in early stages of some new missions. Has to be transported on Heavy-duty trailer, though currently the game doesn’t track this and you can get it onto poor Lowboy which should crack under triple load.
If you tilt the drill back far enough, it will get ready for transportation (the drill will be removed and transported by itself). You can then drive the rig onto a trailer (heavy-duty one normally) and transport it. When you tilt forward, at some point the drill will appear on the rig again.
When there is a stage that requires drilling, drilling pipes will appear on the construction site, usually in pairs. And yellow transparent silhouette of such pipe will show where it’s supposed to be placed. Now there are 2 different pipes: one with yellow ring on top, the other without. One will later be connected to the other, and the two of them will go into one hole.
So, first you need to pick a drilling pipe with your winch and place on the ground where the silhouette is. Make sure it’s the correct one. When the drilling pipe is in place (and released from your winch), put your drill inside the pipe by placing it above and then lowering it (make it go down, vertically). There are grooves on the drilling pipes, where tongues of your drill go, but the game doesn’t require such precision from you. It will connect anyway.
When the drilling pipe is connected to casing driver, lower the drill all the way down inside the pipe (the drill has a separate control for moving up/down, apart from moving along with the casing driver). Then start drilling by rotating the casing driver clockwise and making it go down. You might have to lower the drill a bit more in the process. When the drill is full of earth (there is an indicator and a warning for that), disconnect casing driver from the pipe, pull up both, turn aside and shake off. To shake off you simply rotate it one side, then opposite side, a few times (if you do it too fast by just tapping keys, it may not go off, then hold one direction for a bit longer, like 0.5 – 1 second). It’s ok to hold longer, earth falls of during change of direction. When the drill is clean, put it into the pipe, connect, make the drill go all the way down and continue drilling.
Depending on how you drill, you might not have to interrupt drilling to shake off while working with the same segment. Anyway, when the drilling pipe goes into the ground completely (it’s top being about ground level), it will not go any further, even though your drill can. Then disconnect from the pipe, pull out the drill, shake off, then hook the second part up (with the winch), place it on the pipe that is in the ground (there should be a silhouette again), they will connect. Put your drill inside the pipe again, lock the pipe to casing driver, lower the drill all the way down (it will take longer, because it will have to cover more vertical distance, i.e. both pipes) and continue drilling, just like with the first part. When the pipe goes full way down, you will be told to either make the same thing at the next location (new hole, in which case more drilling pipes will appear; you might have to move a bit if the machine occupies the spot where new pipes are supposed to appear) or you will be told to pour concrete into the drilling pipes (next stage). By the way, you can pour concrete with just the Mixer truck here if you want, no need for Pump truck or Concrete Bucket.
Rotary Drilling Rig has many controls, but they aren’t being used very much. Like tilting is to switch between transportation and working; winch is only for placing drilling pipes; moving the drill forward and backward to help with aiming (so you don’t have to drive to exact spot).
Crawler Crane (DLC3: Liebherr LR 1300)
Added in third expansion, this tier 4 crane is only used in a few jobs. It has to be transported in disassembled state in 3 parts and requires a free foreman to be assembled. The extra foreman requirement can be bypassed if you assemble it first near the future construction site and then accept the job.
It requires a Semi LowLoader trailer (either blue or green) to be transported. Technically you can fit both tracks and the body part on one trailer at the same time, and the load can even be secured, but you won’t pass under semaphores. Also it would be very unrealistic, because this would be a serious overload. You have to move body part in one go, and the tracks in another. This would bring the trailer close to it’s limit. And if you want to be completely realistic, each track should be transported separately.
At last I found a manual for crawler cranes. These machines are very complicated in real, but the core functions present in the game are controlled in the following way.
Left joystick: left and right to rotate the main body left and right.
Right joystick: left to raise boom, right to lower; forward to lower hook, backward to raise it.
So it’s actually quite similar to Mobile Cranes, but here comes the tricky part: the jib (aka “arm”). Usually it can’t be controlled at the same time as the main boom (even though such features are sometimes available as an option), so the jib is being controlled with the same left/right movement of the right joystick (with a toggle). Obviously you can’t use a toggle in-game, the only toggle you have here is between driving and crane modes. So you can either use a separate control for the jib (somewhat realistic, because some real cranes might have it this way) or set up something similar. For example, if you, like myself, are using “numpad 8, 4, 5, 6” for right joystick, you might use numpad 7 and 9 for the jib. Or just map it to left joystick (or whatever represents it for you; for me it’s ESDF) forward/backward, which otherwise remains unused.
Large Mobile Crane (DLC6: Liebherr LTM 1300 6.2)
Added in the sixth expansion, this tier 4 crane is required for new heavy cargo transport jobs. Technically owning a Crawler Crane is enough to accept such a job, but if you want to complete it yourself you would need this Large Mobile Crane, because there is limited space in such jobs, and even with enough space it would be absolutely ridiculous to get Crawler Crane here and there just to load or unload 1 unit of cargo.
Unlike old Mobile Crane, the new Large Mobile Crane is rather hard to drive due to it’s large dimensions and enormous turning radius. It’s boom, when being operated, sounds very different too, and this sound is not to my liking. I suppose it’s a matter of personal preference, but I absolutely love the 3-axle Mobile Crane, but try to avoid this 6-axle one.
As for game balance, Large Mobile Crane makes Crawler Crane somewhat obsolete: every stage can be completed with the new mobile crane which is cheaper, easier and doesn’t require complex transportation. And even in real a mobile crane like this is actually used for installing wind turbines just like in similar in-game jobs that require a tier 4 crane at one of the stages. Still I think for a job like The New Bridge Construction Crawler Crane might be a better roleplaying option.
For realistic controls see Mobile Crane section.
Heavy-duty Tractor (DLC6: Liebherr LTM 1300 6.2)
Added in the sixth expansion. It’s a new MAN Euro 6, made with more detail, better FOV (you can see left mirror without turning the camera) and better view in mirrors. Now you can actually see something in advance, though not as well as in, say, Euro Truck Simulator 2.
Is supposed to be used for transportation of heavy cargo, but you can move any load with any tractor, there isn’t even a lot of difference in pulling capability currently. I am not sure if in real such tractor would be an absolute prerequisite either.
Color matched the Heavy-duty Trailer which is used for transporting the Drilling Rig.
Escort Vehicle
This is used for escorting trailers with oversized loads. But has no real use in singleplayer, because you obviously can’t drive a tractor with oversized trailer and the Escort Vehicle at the same time. In multiplayer one player can escort another. Even though this vehicle was added in the sixth expansion, everyone has access to it without buying the DLC.
Tractor (DLC7: Liebherr HTM 1204 ZA)
Another tractor was added in the seventh expansion, it’s a MAN Euro 6 as well, very similar to the Heavy-duty one, but with only 2 axles and less powerful engine. There is no particular task intended specifically for this truck, though it’s higher than Lowboy’s roof level makes it look fine with rented trailer from Steel Mill or Wall Factory.
Semi-trailers
These are attached to one of the tractors and each semi-trailer has a specific purpose. Also limits maximum speed to 80 km/h. Generally a tractor with a specialized semi-trailer has greater capacity and/or capability than a rigid truck of the similar type. Also trailers are much cheaper to buy and maintain, but more difficult to drive. Even with over 700 hours in Euro Truck Simulator 2 I experienced occasional difficulties with semi here.
It’s main purpose is transportation of vehicles that are not suited for roads and/or very slow, particularly Large Excavator, Roller and, to a lesser extent, Wheel Loader. You can use it for usual cargo just like flatbed, and even combine a vehicle with materials. As long as it fits, the load will secure. For some reason the area above the fifth wheel also fastens the cargo even though there is no visual indication. I noticed that cargo doesn’t even have to hang over the lower section (which gets fastened visually), but this approach isn’t for those who value realism.
Similar to Flatbed Truck’s platform, but even larger: much longer and slightly wider, which allows you to fit 2 palettes by their long side within platform’s width.
Can transport a lot of cargo, but you generally don’t need that much materials unless trying to shop for several jobs at once, so a Flatbed Truck with Crane might be a better option due to self loading capability. Unless you like rented forklifts, of course. Generally when you really need that much space, your load won’t fit in this trailer anyway. But that’s just my experience, I haven’t used this trailer much.
Trailer that functions like a Half Pipe Truck, has 25 cubic meters capacity.
Is used for moving Rotary Drilling Rig which is too heavy for any other semi, but fits nicely here. This trailer can decouple allowing a vehicle to go onto it. The decoupled part remains attached to tractor and can only be disconnected from tractor after recoupling with the other part of the semi.
Can transport other vehicles, but not Crawler Crane due to incompatible shape. This trailer and both Semi LowLoaders have all autosteerable axles, which can also be controlled manualy. For some reason heavy trailers impose a speed limit of 50 km/h regardless of load. Tractor simply won’t accelerate further, but may shift into the next gear while moving downhill. Although it looks like a fine small platform for cargo in front, you can’t secure your load there on all 3 of the heavy trailers.
Was added in the third expansion with Crawler Crane and is used to transport it’s disassembled parts. You can also use it for other loads, it’s even required for some (only because of their size, there is no enforced requirement, just that it won’t fit to be secured on a Lowboy or Flatbed).
Another Semi LowLoader, absolutely identical in function to the previous blue, just green. It was added in the sixth expansion for transporting heavy loads. However the game treats these two trailers as different vehicles, you can configure controls for them individually, and the green one only became qualified as a pre-requisite for Crawler Crane after a patch. There is no big issue about this, just to illustrate that these are 2 different units in the game.
Added in the seventh expansion, this trailer has higher capacity than standard mixer truck. Like all other semi-trailers, can be used with any tractor.
Rental Vehicles
These are only available for rent “free of charge”, you can’t buy one. Note that this expression doesn’t equal “will cost you no money”. If you had, say, a forklift for a while, check your “finances” tab, remember the monthly cost, then return the rented forklift — and monthly cost will lower. I am not sure when exactly rental vehicles start to increase maintenance costs, because I generally haven’t used them for long.
Can be rented at Materials Dealer, Sawmill or Nursery (you may have several rented at the same time). Is used to load palettes, can’t load cargo that has no palettes. If you tilt load backwards far enough, load will be fastened and won’t fall off. Tilting forward again unfastens cargo.
You can avoid forklifts completely by using cranes, because every palette can be loaded with a crane.
Realistic Controls: In real life forklifts have several levers in the right hand area. One closer to center controls lifting (forward to lower, backward to raise), second controls tilting (forward to tilt forward, backward for tilt backward). Other levers provide additional controls, that are not present in the game.
Can be rented at Steel Mill or Wall Factory. When you secure cargo, curtains slide and cover the sides.
Unlike forklifts, you can’t avoid rental trailers completely. That is because of the way factories sell goods. You can only buy something from a factory when a job is at a stage that tells you to get particular cargo from the factory. And when you do, cargo doesn’t just appear on a shelf or ground, but is rather loaded into a trailer (it’s different for some special missions, but in those cases you don’t buy things, just transport what is waiting outside on the ground). And to make the purchase you need to bring a suitable trailer into the loading zone. While loads from factories can be transported with various semi-trailers, the factory sales manager is rather picky and only accepts this rental trailer. At first I thought it was because of incorrect placement, but my trailers never got accepted even when positioned just like the default for rental, while rental only needs to generally be in the loading area. Turns out it’s the type that matters.
Nothing stops you from bringing a crane and moving cargo from one semi to another, of course, but it’s much easier to use what they want, especially since a load may have hook point in a place that facilitates it’s placement on construction site (like stadium poles on top), which makes it very hard to move from one trailer to another.