Grinding Gears – 2

So, here we are back building our truck companies in Europe and the US. One quick note about differences in the two scenarios. In the US I have opted for distance and ADR as my higher priorities where as in Europe I have gone for a more balanced approach when allocating the skill points. There is already an imbalance in the amount of money earned per job between the American and Euro versions of the game which my choices have exacerbated. Therefore, to balance the two games so that we arrive at the garage upgrade point for both projects at the same time, I usually need to do around 3 trips in Europe for every 1 in the US.

Last post I said we’d be in Scandinavia again having completed a delivery of Pears to Linkoping. So here we are collecting a Digger from an open mine near Linkoping in the middle of the night for a trip across the border to Oslo in Norway. As you can see it’s quite a tight fit between the buildings and the barriers. The low-loader trailer is also a bit wider than the truck and has its wheels set a long way back. This makes it quite a challenge as the trailer tends to really cut the corners at junctions – something that is more of a problem in Euro Truck than in the American version as the barriers at junctions are often set unrealistically close to the edge of the road. That means taking corners from the wrong side of the road to avoid getting stuck. Low-loaders tend to be the most awkward trailers in the game. Even the new ones with steerable axles can catch you out! The rear of one of those trailers swings out as it follows you in the turn and can strike the barriers on the road you’re turning off! And… If you go too far onto the wrong carriageway to make a turn the ai drivers will just drive down the side of the trailer and either collide with you or block your turn 😉

Most of the country borders in Europe have crossing points with offices and parking areas for Customs Officers or the Police to inspect your truck – not that the game includes that functionality. It could do – in American Truck Sim you get asked to pull in to weigh stations so I guess we could find ourselves being called into the parking area for a police check in the future? Anyway, I digress – The Norwegian border is a small crossroads on the E18 with simple sign telling you that you have entered Norway.

We dropped our trailer off at the Norge mining depot and picked up an ongoing load of drilling equipment bound for Stavanger. This is one of the most scenic roads in the game so I’ll share a coupe of early morning shots with you…

Beside Sudhalsvatnet

The mail must get through – the postie makes risky overtake approaching a blind corner

Erfjord bridge

My next job was to carry a brace of Case 70XT mini-diggers from a mine to the north of Stavanger down to Aalborg in Denmark. You might be forgiven for thinking that the only jobs in Scandinavia are hauling mining equipment but that is not the case. There are a wide variety of loads including shifting cattle – which earns you a Steam Achievement the first time you complete one of those deliveries. The commonest load anywhere seems to be empty packaging or empty palettes – a nod to the need to recycle 🙂 So I drove out of Stavanger to the collection point in the small hours of the morning and was gifted the opportunity to capture this nice contre-jour shot…You do get some wonderful light at 02:30 in northern Europe! It’s never pitch black like in California or Arizona.

Talking of Arizona – we were at Phoenix following our last trip. Just a short run this time as I picked up a load of Solvents bound for Primm (NV). I chose the load as an opportunity to test out a new trailer mod I’d imported to the game from the Steam Workshop. It seems to work and look ok 🙂

From Denmark my next European trip takes me across to Poland, which is a story for another post. In ATS I haven’t driven the next job yet so I can’t forewarn you of my destination! I’ll leave you with a shot of sunrise over the Hoover Dam…