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153 ratings

A Better Truck

By kaki_gamet and 1 collaborators

A fair guide to one of the most hidden game's mechanics;
How to boost your hired drivers' Revenue up to a sure 10%
(and in turns your net gain may go up of a 50% or more)

Award

Created by

The Pitts
Offline

kaki_gamet
In-Game
Surviving Mars

Category: Gameplay Basics, Secrets

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

21 Mar, 2022 @ 11:04pm

23 Mar @ 1:31am

8,025	Unique Visitors
206	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Preliminary Talk

A Brief History

Base Concept

Truck Parts

Tips & Tricks

Related Bugs

Conclusions

Credits

Attachment(s)

Addendum

Comments

Preliminary Talk

Without the close collaboration of The Pitts, it would have never been possible to figure out how smart developers have been when they added this hidden feature to the game : )

For questions and more information, feel free to comment below. This guide may change accordingly.

A Brief History

Dating back to December 15th 2015 (still v1.22), developers left these two notes :

"Hired drivers are more efficient when equipped by good truck"
"AI drivers are slightly more efficient when equipped with a good truck".

But it was only until much later, May 14th 2018 (v1.31), that a "Slot Efficiency" field was then added to hired drivers data, and it is by working around this variable that this year, finally, what is going on behind the scenes became clear.

Base Concept

Slot Efficiency base value for any hired driver is 1.0000 and it applies as a modifier to reward; in other words this value grants them no more and no less than their regular reward (mind of it as a 100% or a x1 multiplier). On top of that is then added the value of each truck part, up to 1.1000 that is the hard cap for this value.

Truck Parts

Each truck is made of several parts, and while many are immediately available for purchase, some have a player level requirement in order to unlock those. And are exactly these parts with a level requirement that counts toward the Slot Efficiency, but not all of them are weighted the same so let's go more in details with it.

Core parts like Cabin, Chassis, Engine and Transmission all count

Level / 1,000 = Efficiency bonus

This means that a cabin with a Lv.12 requirement will accounts for a +0.0120 to base value.

Other parts like Interior, Paint Job and Accessories count

Level / 10,000 = Efficiency bonus

So a Lv.12 Steering Wheel accounts for a +0.0012 to base value.

Big note on Accessories! Only first level accessories count toward Slot Efficiency and those generally mounted on an Accessory Slot (like lights on a Front Mask, horns on a Bull Bar, etc.) or decorative items (like event items) and few more, they all are not counted. On the same line should be most of the DLC related items too, although in this aspect both of us had not much to experiment with because we don't have all of the DLC at hand.

Tips & Tricks

From my tests with different configurations became clear that an 8x4/4 Midlift chassis is just overkilling, while a 6x2/4 Midlift chassis is still better than a 6x4 one (because of the extra steering axle high value). Another point where to make attention is the cabin roof, where interferences between Beacon, Left Horn, Right Horn and Light Bar may lead to a careful selection of parts in order to maximize the efficiency bonus. Wheels too require a bit of attention as the most expensive parts are not always the ones with highest level requirement.

After checking up all 18 available truck models and their 7 variants with an 8x4/4 Midlift chassis either, I noticed that all bar two models can reach the hard cap, specifically Iveco Stralis Hi-Way that maxes out at 1.0885 and the Renault Magnum that maxes out at 1.0914 efficiency. All other truck models can reach the hard cap, some with more tuning needed than others, where Scania and Volvo are the easiest ones to max out (because of their most powerful engine with a whopping +0.0250 and more available customization slots in general).

Related Bugs

Yes, this feature too is not immune from bugs. The first and most important is about "timing". If the player hire a driver and then give them a truck, that driver will stay with an efficiency value of 1.0000 (default). If it is done the other way around, first buy a truck then hire a driver on it, efficiency will update correctly to match the truck parts. Even when moving truck and driver around it is always better to move first the truck and then the driver. An example of what happened to me is that since My Fleet Configurations has been added to the game, I started to hire drivers then buy them a truck and in the end I had almost 200 of them at default value. Don't copy me.

There is even another bug, this time comes from Copy Config. This feature allows to match one or more owned vehicle configurations with the one of a source vehicle. But while parts are replaced correctly, the efficiency value never updates, that is. In order to made it to works, player can change manually a single part on the source truck, use the Copy Config feature with hundreds of trucks at once, then revert manually that single part on all of them. To change manually the configuration of a truck given to a hired driver always update the efficiency value. Another example of what happened to me, once I gave all of my hired drivers a better truck using Copy Config then ran a 575 in-game days test (and did it even twice) just to get the same figures (about +2,372M€) that I got with old trucks.

Conclusions

So, while keeping in mind these two bugs, it is possible to get a net 10% income boost from hired drivers no matter of their levels/skills/locations. The player can get access to all truck parts by level 30 while hired drivers can use anything given them no matter of their own level.

A maxed out truck may costs up to three times more than the cheapest stripped off truck, so for those aiming to get rich quickly better to focus on quantity rather than quality. For anyone else, to spend more in the beginning will just delay the (unavoidable) moment one will drown in money ; )

Credits

The Pitts - For his powerful tools, giant archive and broad knowledge that helped to gather actual data from saves and give a meaning to them.

Myself - For putting together, testing and scrapping theories restlessly while at the same time preparing save data for further analysis.

Developers - For nicely hiding this long sought after and elusive Holy Grail, I wish them all the best ; )

Attachment(s)

Truck Model axles # x2 x3 x4 v1.53.3.11s DAF XF105 1.0932 1.1048 ( used only ) DAF NGD 1.0902 1.1020 1.1143 DAF XD 1.0772 1.0875 DAF XF 1.0924 1.1080 Iveco Stralis 1.0895 1.1036 ( used only ) Iveco Stralis Hi-Way 1.0743 1.0885 ( used only ) Iveco S-Way 1.0620 ( recently added ) MAN TGX Euro 5 1.0906 1.1052 ( used only ) MAN TGX 1.0945 1.1126 1.1219 MAN TGX Euro 6 1.1005 1.1225 1.1319 Mercedes-Benz Actros 1.0931 1.1087 ( used only ) Mercedes-Benz New Actros 1.0872 1.1113 1.1143 Renault E-Tech T 1.0432 ( quick jobs only ) Renault Magnum 1.0768 1.0914 ( used only ) Renault Premium 1.0859 1.1005 ( used only ) Renault T 1.0931 1.1107 Scania R 2009 1.1005 1.1161 1.1274 ( used only ) Scania R 1.1129 1.1345 1.1475 Scania S 1.1129 1.1345 1.1475 Scania S BEV 1.0554 ( quick jobs only ) Scania Streamline 1.1013 1.1169 1.1282 ( used only ) Volvo FH3 1.1049 1.1195 ( used only ) Volvo FH4 1.1053 1.1209 1.1340 ( reworked/used only ) Volvo FH5 1.1039 1.1251 1.1374 ( NEW ) Volvo FH6 1.1060 1.1272 1.1347 ( NEW )

Users may get higher or lower max values depending on which DLC are available to them. The three axles configuration has been made (mostly) by using a 6x2/4 chassis type. The part exceeding 1.1000 will be lost. Trucks labeled as "used only" may be found at the Used Trucks dealer, a new feature available from main menu only. Offers change as in-game time passes.

On the left column are shown the in-game labels for each customization slot; where not specified all trucks are equipped with a 6x2/4 chassis type. Last column is an example of a configuration for hired drivers use.

Addendum

Until now I was blind, absolutely blind ^^' It took the combined effort (and the right timing) of two more users, first one in June 2024 and then just now, March 2025, for me to move my lazy behind and go back to testing : D

After three years since writing this guide, I went to test its content but on reverse, by downgrading my fleet. It took thousands of clicks and five hours to prepare saves only, and about as much time to look through data extracted from saves provided by The Pitts.

It was driving me nuts that despite the 10% increase in Revenue, what I had in front of my eyes was a 50% increase in Profit. Long story short, the 10% of a huge figure (Revenue) if applied directly (because costs are almost fixed) to Profit that is a smaller figure (Wages are quite huge in fact), it becomes a much bigger percentage >.<

So yes, if done correctly it is possible to witness the effect of upgrading a truck pretty soon. But it depends on other conditions also and the "how" is still not clear (and probably it will never be). My current "conditions" are all garages (163) with two drivers each, all drivers already maxed out, provided with maxed out trucks and the map is including until Baltic DLC. Changing any of these may end with a different result, below or above 50% more Profit : )

Still I would suggest to buy more stripped down trucks rather than to buy pimped up trucks, as I feel that the Efficiency boost cannot grant a consistent and widespread +100% (or more) Profit. It is my feeling anyway ; )

75 Comments

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kaki_gamet [author] 19 Sep @ 12:46am

v1.56 - the new feature that allows to relocate both a hired driver and their truck (or a truck and their driver) is updating the Efficiency correctly. The "related bugs" from the guide are still there ; )

kaki_gamet [author] 22 Jul @ 5:38pm

You are welcome, happy

ing ^^/

sl_lee99 22 Jul @ 8:52am

Thanks

kaki_gamet [author] 21 Jul @ 4:23pm

Yes and yes : )

Manually upgrading a single truck will update the Efficiency value, also moving a driver away and back on the same truck will do the trick ; )

sl_lee99 21 Jul @ 11:47am

I have questions regarding the bugs: does the efficiency value remain the default or does it update to correctly reflect the upgraded truck if I purchase the upgraded truck using the "My Fleet Configuration" feature (with a single incorrect part) and place it into the driver's slot, then use the "Upgrade" function to revert the incorrect part? That is, does the "Upgrade" function always correctly set the driver's efficiency value, even if I purchase a truck and place it on the driver's slot (therefore working around the first bug)?

Also, if I purchase a truck and place it on the driver's slot, but relocate the driver to another garage slot temporarily and back, does it update the efficiency value too (also the first bug)?

kaki_gamet [author] 20 Jun @ 5:55pm

Only when applying it to existing trucks in your fleet : )

Schetefan123 20 Jun @ 9:48am

A question regarding the bugs: Does the copy-config bug apply to buying truck configurations in your fleet via the dealer? Or only if you use the copy-config menu in the truck overview?

kaki_gamet [author] 20 Mar @ 5:41am

I believe the effect should be not so immediate and evident, but you are not the first coming back to say it. In my case I did a huge overhaul of my fleet when we finally placed all pieces together, but it was not only upgrading their trucks : )

трипл 6 мафия 20 Mar @ 5:38am

I run into this guide after hours of attempts to find any proper information about "do truck modules affect hired drivers income". Any guide on hired drivers tells "just buy the cheapest available truck", but I questioned it after i gave my old Volvo FH4 (with all top modules + lotta customisation) to hired driver and bought myself fresh FH6. After few days of active playing i saw constant difference in income from this driver compared to over drivers in same garade with cheap 100k MAN TGX.

kaki_gamet [author] 20 Mar @ 5:36am

Hardly, should leave a driver with a stock truck and another with a maxed truck (and nothing else that would interfere) in the same garage, and then observe them until both are maxed and beyond ^^'

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