Hey guys, it's time for another update here on Steam. The changes in the change log may seem minor at first glance, but I think I have a lot to explain this time. And hopefully you've had enough time to read a bit... ;)

But let's start with the simple stuff. As usual, I've updated the fuel prices. This time, it was pretty unspectacular, as the price changes were moderate compared to last week.

As a second small point, I've made another micro adjustment to the cargo rewards. The special transports from the base game now offer about 4% more reward.

I've adjusted the reward level to match the base game once again, after "removing" the special transports from the base game and the special transports from the Oversize DLC (both are subject to special treatment). However, this is just a minor detail that should only play a role in conjunction with other cargo mods.


One major aspect I've been working on are the bank loans. When I started this mod, I specified fairly arbitrary loans whose values were simply meant to "look good". However, there have been significant changes to this mod in the meantime, so I want to provide better loans here. Partly because repaying the old loans has become significantly more difficult due to the new pricing structure for cargo rewards. I think it's time for better financing options.

For one thing, in addition to the old loans of $50,000, $150,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000, I've also provided a medium-sized loan of $250,000. If you find the provided loan amount staggered in a way that's unfavorable, please let me know. I’m open to your wishes and suggestions.

For another, I've adjusted the loan terms. These are often specified as 10, 15, 20, and 30 years for fixed-rate bank loans. I found a good and constantly updated source for these durations online. However, since we're unlikely to span periods of 30 years in the game, I've reduced these durations to a tenth in my economy mod: 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 years. And even these periods have to be managed first...

I have set up the following loan options:

• $50,000 loan, 1-year term, interest rate 5.86%/a, daily repayment ~$145
  
• $150,000 loan, 1.5-year term, interest rate 5.97%/a, daily repayment ~$299
  
• $250,000 loan, 1.5-year term, interest rate 5.97%/a, daily repayment ~$499
  
• $500,000 loan, 2-year term, interest rate 6.50%/a, daily repayment ~$776
  
• $500,000 loan, 3-year term, interest rate 6.76%/a, daily repayment ~$550
  
• $1,000,000 loan, 2-year term, interest rate 6.50%/a, daily repayment ~$1552
  
• $1,000,000 loan, 3-year term, interest rate 6.76%/a, daily repayment ~$1101

I've found a way to customize the game's GUI so that these 7 loan options can now be displayed instead of the usual 4 on the bank account page. There might still be room for an 8th option. Hopefully, SCS isn't messing around with this...

The values given in the list are only momentary values. The numbers will change over time. One key number, namely the interest rate, you won't find in the game's GUI as it is written. SCS has done something completely obscure here to link the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment installments. The interest rate displayed in the game cannot be calculated using the usual interest equations alone. However, I have at least found an empirical way to approximately predict and adjust the numerical values.

I will regularly adjust the loan terms, as well as fuel prices. However, due to the short loan terms, any interest rate fluctuations will have only a minor impact (only a very few dollars per day). The majority of the daily repayments will go toward loan repayment, and only a very small portion will be interest payments. However, I still want to incorporate real-world conditions into the loan financing.


The second major aspect I've worked on concerns the parameterization of the ATS damage model. It concerns the wear and tear of trucks and trailers.

In version 1.4 of this mod, I announced my plans for generating realistic maintenance and repair costs. However, I haven't yet found a suitable lever for this. The only option I've seen so far was to adjust the definition files for the individual truck and trailer components. I definitely didn't want to do that, as it would cause massive compatibility issues with other vehicle mods.

So I've now considered abusing the damage model to generate maintenance and repair costs. At this point, I have to digress a bit to take you all along.

The damage model contains two values for each main components of a vehicle (cabin, chassis, engine, transmission and wheels). One value describes irreparable damage, which indicates the expected service life and eventually leads to the replacement of a worn-out component. The second value describes repairable damage, which can be fixed by a visit to the workshop. And I used precisely this second value to generate maintenance and repair costs in my manner.

Unfortunately, it's implemented somewhat nonsensically in the game, as the damage value must be paid based on the new price of a component when repairing it. Things like workshop labor costs are completely ignored. However, from my research on the topic of "maintenance costs for employed drivers," I know the value of maintenance costs that are incurred for every mile driven. And that's exactly where I wanted to go.

So I took all the (several hundred) vehicle components in the base game and calculated their individual maintenance costs over their typical expected service live times. Then I combined these numerical values into the various vehicle options. The result was the average maintenance cost of a vehicle in dollars per mile. Well, and then I just tweaked the proportions for repairable and irreparable damage until the calculated maintenance costs matched the former researched average value for maintenance costs.

Overall, the damage model parameterized in this way now describes the following two facts with (hopefully) a good degree of realism:

1. The expected service life of a component is determined by the irreparable damage. Once the service life has been reached, the yellow warning light on the dashboard can only be extinguished by replacing the part. The service life for the cabin is ~1,200,000 miles, for the chassis ~1,000,000 miles, for the engine ~800,000 miles, for the transmission ~500,000 miles, and for the wheels ~125,000 miles.
   
2. The repairable damage to a component over the distance traveled is so high that the necessary workshop visits result in maintenance and repair costs so high that for a truck with a trailer, they currently amount to ~45 cents per mile. This excludes the cost of completely replacing the components at the end of their service life. Inexpensive vehicles incur only low maintenance costs, whereas expensive vehicles generate high maintenance costs. Just like in real life...

Due to the fact that the workshop only incurs parts costs and no additional costs, quite frequent workshop visits are necessary to achieve the targeted maintenance costs. I think more often than in reality, but the targeted maintenance costs cannot be achieved otherwise. The cabin needs to be completely serviced every ~69,500 miles, the chassis every ~57,100 miles, the engine every ~45,700 miles, the transmission every ~28,600 miles, and the wheels every ~83,300 miles. The older the vehicle or the respective component gets, the more often you have to visit the workshop. And at some point, replacement becomes more economical than constant repairs. Just like in real life...

By repurposing the damage model, I have now created my long-awaited opportunity to incorporate the effects of inflation into the maintenance and repair costs of my own vehicle. I had long had this option for employed drivers; now I have it for my own vehicle as well.


Due to the adjustment of the damage model, the driver (player) now incurs higher (more realistic) operating costs in the game than before. However, these are only indirectly visible. More frequent visits to the workshop are required. I hope I have been able to clearly explain my reasons for this step.

By providing new loan options, the daily burden of repayment installments has been reduced. Most loan options should be manageable for a single driver. Only when managing the $1,000,000 loan with a two-year term you will need the assistance of an employed driver.

I am well aware that the loan options offered have very short terms compared to reality, and therefore the monthly burden is significantly higher than in real life. At the same time, however, I can argue that the driver (player), unlike in real life, does not receive a salary from his company and does not pay insurance costs, license fees, taxes, etc.

Looking at my Excel spreadsheets, a holistic view shows that there should be enough space to build a small transportation company. Of course, you'll never be able to build an empire like FedEx, DHL, or UPS. There simply isn't enough time in the day for that.

For my part, after hundreds of thousands of miles, I'll be creating a new driver profile so I can relive the entire journey... once again ;)

Change log:
* updated fuel prices and dependent maintenance, insurance and garage costs
* reworked the bank loans and added three additional loans
* reworked the wear and tear of trucks and trailers
* fine-tuning of special cargo rewards (base game)

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