Owner Operator Simulation? (1 Viewer)

Hey guys.

I really enjoy using modded trucks and sound sets, and having AI traffic, so MP mods have become sort of impossible for me to use, and most Virtual Trucking Companies are focusing understandably so on the MP mod.

However, I was wondering if there was any sort of Owner Operator simulation, with contract jobs for other companies. How cool would that be? Imagine VTC owners short on drivers needing to meet deadlines, you could bid on the job, compete with other o/os and help that company...grow a reputation with people.

I drive extra carefully dodging idiotic AI drivers and deliver cargo that is in excellent shape, yet the next delivery I can drop off a trailer with cargo in shambles and in means nothing...but if someone needed that cargo to be in good shape, there would be real consequences.

I guess I don't like the idea of being tied to one specific entity, but I would rather simulate the life of an independent driver, in such a capacity that isn't covered in the default game. I want to drive with others who participate in VTCs, but using the truck and paintjob I earned and paid for in game. However, I'd like my actions to still have meaning beyond my own personal game, so that there is more realism, more consequences, more meaning to simulate driving professionally. This would inspire competition among the other drivers. Who drives the best and bids the most reasonable rates?

Does anyone know of anything like this? Would it be possible? Most VTCs are looking for permanent members, for very good reasons. But I'd love to see a real down to bolts Owner Operator RPG style sim, with other players as real competition.
 
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I don't know of a VTC to meet your standards, but i guess you can come up with your own tests and challenges. Say you're in a VTC and challenge the other members of that specific VTC to acomplish a certain task - do 50 excellent deliveries , have the lowest fuel consumption, drive the longest job, etc.

I understand what you want - basicaly you want something like WoT contracts, but managed by a VTC.
The thing is - even if such a tool would be in the hands of a VTC, i'm guessing the owner would give those jobs to those inside the VTC.
How would an internal job be different from a contracted one ?

You can still have other players as a real competition, but you have to manualy figure out the conditions and make them the same for everyone.

Does that make any sense ?
 
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As a company owner who employs both company drivers and owner ops, what John above, said is true. It is cheaper for companies to contract within, not without. If I get a high paying contract, I first offer would be to my company drivers because they are paid by the mile, if none grab it then I offer it to my O/O's who are paid a percentage rate of the contract, meaning I lose more money to them than if I kept it with a company driver.

Now rarely I have had been forced to hire out because I have no trucks in the area, company or o/o, in that case I have to pay even more. Which is why I offer my company drivers double pay if they could bobtail through 2 States to grab it.

So I don't really see how this would work. The game is already set up in that direction, the only issue is there are no other companies in single player mode, just your own. You could download real company mods and haul loads for Walmart instead of walbert, Stevens transportation, UPS, FedEx, and so on.
 
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To add , what you're looking for Zomb Lee , is a hardcore VTC, one that takes the simulation aspect very serious. To my knowledge, there were 2 VTC classed as hardcore, but had very few members (like...between 2 and 5 ) and eventually closed due to inactivity and lack of interest.

The funny thing is, i belive there are many drivers who would rally in such a VTC, but there's no one to create it and manage it.
 
... Most VTCs are looking for permanent members, for very good reasons. But I'd love to see a real down to bolts Owner Operator RPG style sim, with other players as real competition.

...I understand what you want - basicaly you want something like WoT contracts, but managed by a VTC.
The thing is - even if such a tool would be in the hands of a VTC, i'm guessing the owner would give those jobs to those inside the VTC.
How would an internal job be different from a contracted one ?

You can still have other players as a real competition, but you have to manualy figure out the conditions and make them the same for everyone.

Does that make any sense ?

First, thank you so much for the replies! Sorry for my delayed response. I underlined in my first post the exact point you said, however I didn't elaborate on it very well only sort of touched on it. Indeed, I am aware that, logically, if I'm running a VTC my concerns are with the internal workings of that, and not some Joe Generic driver who doesn't want to join but wants to take my work. There literally is no incentive with the current format of VTCs or in-game economy for any company owner to want to contract to someone outside of their own drivers. There is no shortage of drivers or jobs, so when you have an economy like that, there is no reason to weed out the skilled from the unskilled, no shortage of manpower, no consequences for delivering cargo 100% destroyed, no need to seek out drivers when your inbox is full of applicants.

Literally, there is no way for this to work without an outside simulated economy that multiple VTCs would have to participate in. Imagine a game of monopoly but with trucks...The driving and information would be carried out in game, any earnings, expenses acrued, ect would then be applied to the outside simulated economy between businesses and the like. The better drivers of VTCs do for their company, the more likely that VTC is to be offered contracts from the simulated economy businesses...Again, all of this would need to be simulated outside of the game and require a lot of manual information keeping from a human in charge of the "economy" someone to make up contracts for all the participating VTCs and O/Os and someone to look at the submitted deliveries and calculate damages and the impact on the companies rep and the economy (perhaps an urgent delivery dropped off late would cause other jobs to become available within the "economy")...a pen and paper player influenced stand alone economy, if you will, and again, it would require participation from VTCs, the drivers of said VTCs, and anyone who wanted to be an O/O and like a said some sort of Game Master or Economy Overseer or something.... lol

As a company owner who employs both company drivers and owner ops, what John above, said is true. It is cheaper for companies to contract within, not without. If I get a high paying contract, I first offer would be to my company drivers because they are paid by the mile, if none grab it then I offer it to my O/O's who are paid a percentage rate of the contract, meaning I lose more money to them than if I kept it with a company driver.

Now rarely I have had been forced to hire out because I have no trucks in the area, company or o/o, in that case I have to pay even more. Which is why I offer my company drivers double pay if they could bobtail through 2 States to grab it.

So I don't really see how this would work. The game is already set up in that direction, the only issue is there are no other companies in single player mode, just your own. You could download real company mods and haul loads for Walmart instead of walbert, Stevens transportation, UPS, FedEx, and so on.

This is very true, just like John pointed out and what I sort of touched on, and its very understandable. I have run a few VTCs in the past...sadly I'm not a truck driver in real life, so I doubt my companies ever came close to the realism I seek even now, but I tried my best. My concerns then was keeping the VTC active, my drivers interested, and streamlining report and delivery logging systems, (I cannot code or program or even know HTML) so I had to use written forms...and we all know how cumbersome those are. Ultimately, gaining new drivers, keeping current drivers happy and intrigued and active became my only goals. Trying to deal with drivers completely unrelated to the company is, as you say, really extraneous and unnecessary. I guess it boils down to what I sort of touched on above...there would have to be some sort of incentive for the VTCs and O/Os to want to participate in such a system. The only benefit I could see would be that a VTC and player influenced economy could be drawn up, offering up friendly competition between companies...but that would really be the only thing. How much that would motivate people to do something like this, is probably very little.

To add , what you're looking for Zomb Lee , is a hardcore VTC, one that takes the simulation aspect very serious. To my knowledge, there were 2 VTC classed as hardcore, but had very few members (like...between 2 and 5 ) and eventually closed due to inactivity and lack of interest.

The funny thing is, i belive there are many drivers who would rally in such a VTC, but there's no one to create it and manage it.

Yes, this is very unfortunate. Indeed, I would love to see a down to the bolts VTC, but I think the ultimate reason for their failure is their reason for existence...most people already have a real job and have limited time to play their games...so sometimes the less real life limitations the better. I agree in there being a lot of interest in adding more realism...I wish I was more knowledgeable and talented because I'd attempt to give it a go, but based on my past VTCs, I'm not the man to do it.
 
This is basically a load brokerage firm from what I have read. Plenty of incentives could be offered such as specific badges or special 1 of a kind paint jobs just to throw out a few ideas. The problem ( as a few have mentioned above ) would be the logistics of running it versus people wanting to be involved and keep it interesting / active. Great idea though. I apologize for bumping an old topic.
 

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