Earning Money

That’s what we’re here for in the real world and in Truck Simulator. The only difference is that you can always delete your profile and start up again in the real world – it’s called bankruptcy 😉 Ok – I think I may have got a bit confused there somewhere!

If you’ve done your first trip and you’ve got €3000 in the bank, you may be thinking that you can take out a €100k loan from the bank and buy your first truck immediately. Well, good luck with that! Firstly, only the most basic of the trucks are available to purchase. Most trucks and upgrades are limited by your skill level. You can cheat… I see there is a mod that makes the required level 0 for everything but I wouldn’t go there. The artificial limitations placed on what you can buy are unrealistic but I think it’s best to work within them if only to make you feel that you’ve earned that new truck!

Much more importantly, if you take that loan you’ll have to pay back €2888 per day and that means you have to earn €2888 along with enough money to cover your maintenance and fuel costs in order to make a living. And that assumes you’re a good driver and don’t get fines or collide with other traffic – which those of you who have been reading my posts will recognise as a high probability occurrence due to the ai in the game :-( So the message is – be patient. The time to buy is around a dozen trips away:-)

I log my drives in excel. It’s up to you whether you choose to do the same but I find it a means of engaging with the game – a bit like filling out the swindle-sheets after completing a delivery. The log is one reason why I can tell you of all my adventures and if you get involved in Truck Sim’s you may want to log your adventures too. If you’re flying airplanes in one of those sims you should be keeping a log – that’s what Pilots do, so why not truckers?
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I present you with my log from the first few drives…

Dijon – Metz	Lumber	24t	€ 3,750
Metz – Frankfurt	Canned Beef	28t	€ 5,315
Frankfurt – Düsseldorf	Lighting Fixtures	18t	€ 5,064
Düsseldorf – Brussels	Tyres	16t	€ 5,601
Brussels – Carlisle	Paint	23t	€ 5,174
Carlisle – Hannover	Leibherr 954	19t	€ 9,802

I’ve mentioned that this is a chance to learn about the different trucks and to Illustrate the point I started out in a MAN TGX then had a DAF XF for the run to Frankfurt – didn’t convince me that I should like DAF’s! The run to Düsseldorf produced another Volvo FH16 Classic but then the drive to Brussels gave the opportunity to try out a Mercedes Benz Actros. This run caused me a minor embarrassment as I overran a red light incurring a €160 fine. Brussels to Carlisle was a surprise as the truck provided was a MAN TGA – courtesy of MADSTER’s mod. That was a real pleasure – I’d forgotten how nice a truck the TGA is to drive (Now driving one in my main profile!). The Carlisle to Hannover run with the Renault Premium was fun too but for different reasons – had to have eyes in the back of my head at every junction and whenever there were roadside barriers. A trailer that needs watching and that’s all part of the fun 🙂 Here we go with a couple of images from these early runs…