Introduction
Trucking can be boring sometimes and is mostly chosen for its big payout. But I know there are some of you who are willing to learn and improve their roleplay as a trucker; I’ve seen many truckers here in LS-RP, good and bad. I describe some ways to roleplay your trucks and tell you how I personally do it. I am no expert in this, but I am interested in trucking business and I do a lot of research. It turned out to be quite a big guide, but I hope you are willing to read it and I hope it will help you have more fun and improve your roleplay. So without further ado I present you Roleplaying a Serious Trucker, by Richie Thorne.
Worth reading: Peterbilt 387 Operation Manual (PDF)
Glossary
Here are some of the abbreviations and words used in this guide or by LS-RP truckers.
General Terms
18 Wheeler – a tractor and a trailer combined. Why is it called an 18 wheeler? Because it has a total of 18 wheels: two in front, four pairs of two in the back of the tractor and four pairs of two on the trailer.
10 Wheeler - dual-axle tractor without a trailer
4 Wheeler - basic car
Tractor – a vehicle towing the trailer, a truck in other words.
RCTT – Red County Truck Terminal, a place in Blueberry owned by RTA (it looks abandoned, unless you have a mod made by me (shameless self-promotion)).
RTA – Reg’s Truckers Association, company uniting the truckers of Los Santos. Owns a radio channel 19991.
Fifth-wheel – A part of the truck on that trailer connect to (more on Wikipedia).
Landing gear – Part of the trailer that keeps it leveled when it’s not attached to a tractor.
Long Walk – A trip to Angel Pine
Monty – Montgomery
Idlestack – Idlewood pizza stack (used by many people)
BlueB - Blueberry
Handle (CB handle) - The FCC encourages the use of CB handles. CB handles are nicknames which are used to identify the speaker, in place of on actual name. A driver often selects his own handle, one that he feels reflects his personality, or describes his way of driving.
Depots
WWC - Weapon Warehouse Components
ODC - Ocean Docks Components
T&M - Town & Mod
CC - Commerce Components
H&B - House & Business Upgrading
TC - Taesic Components
CLB - Commerce Loading Bay
APS - Angel Pine Storage
MS - Montgomery Storage
BS - Blueberry Storage
SS - Solarin Storage
SM - Santa Maria Loading Bay
OS - Octane Sprins
FC - Fort Carson
LBS - Los Barrancas Storage
WLB - Willowfield Loading Bay
FOD - Fossil's Ocean Docks
OD - Ocean Docks
FT - Fallen Tree
CLS - Charlie's Log Storage
ILB - Idlewood Loading Bay
BOB - Back o' Beyond
FCS - Flint County Storage
T&R - Balls T&R, sometimes called Starballs
RCS – Red County Storage
RCF – Red County Farm
EBC – Easter Bay Chemicals
Worth reading: Glossary of Truck Terminology
Your Truck and You.
When you first get into trucker roleplay, you must decide how are you going to roleplay your trucks. Are they gonna be company trucks, or personal trucks. I like to roleplay my truck as my personal vehicle, because it gives me most flexibility on all the cool addons and stuff (talking about truck addons, not game addons). When it comes to roleplaying your truck, you should know the model, the layout, trivia, and such. Do some research about your truck, search Google, watch some videos, read forums, this will help you get really deep in your roleplay.
Types of rigs
There are a few types of rigs available, but we’re going to talk about two only, due to the fact that Linerunner reassembles a 10-wheeler. Ok, so there are two cabin types, sleeper and day cab.
Sleeper trucks have those long backs and they contain beds (hence the name – sleeper). Those trucks are used for long hauls, mostly nationwide (like all over United States) or international (all over the world).
Day cabs don’t have the bed and are mostly used for local deliveries. If haul exceeds the driving hours allowed by the law, drivers stay in motels.
Now which one you choose, is again entirely up to you and your roleplay. Just bear in mind that if you’re roleplaying a local driver, it’s most likely you will have a day cab. I like to play games like Rig ‘n’ Roll and 18 Wheels of Steel, so my time off the server can be considered as me working out of the city.
Few brands to help you choose.
I’m gonna give a few manufacturers of trucks to help you choose the truck you wanna roleplay. Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack.
Company trucks
These are the trucks provided to you by the company (LS Trucking???) you are working for. Usually companies do not allow major alterations to their trucks, like engine upgrades and stuff, so you mostly drive stock trucks.
Personal trucks
It’s more fun to roleplay your personal trucks, as you get flexibility to choose what you want your truck to have, but you pay your trucks expenses like fuel and repairs.
CB Radio.
Short for Civilian Band Radio. These are the radios used by truckers to communicate between each other. Now because there’s no such thing in game (and suggestions are closed, so I cannot suggest it), you will have to use the game’s default radio that can be purchased in every 24/7 shop. When you get the radio, don’t forget to set it to 19991 for Reg’s Truckers Association channel, where truckers report situation on the road and similar.
Now a little tip on roleplaying a CB Radio, because the radio is in the truck, I only use that while I’m in my truck. That means every broadcast I read while I’m nowhere near the truck, I consider meta and my character cannot hear that. Just the way I roleplay.
CB Slang and trucker 10-codes
Sometimes truckers use slang for easier communication and 10-codes (different from police). Here are few of them I thought would be useful for roleplay community.
10-codes
CB Slang
Locations
Roleplaying Trailers
When it comes to roleplaying truck load, it’s a dead-end for most people. Of course you can look at the bottom of your screen and read what you’re hauling, but having chains and towing equipment in a fuel tanker… admit, it’s not that realistic. To help you get started on roleplaying your load, I compiled a small list of possible cargo and roleplaying the loading/unloading procedures brought to you by the server.
Box trailers. With these trailers it is kinda easy to think of what you’re hauling. You can simply check what the trailer contains scriptwise, but it can get boring over time, so I usually think of something realistic and hold on to that for the rest of the trip. One thing that might help you is mods. I personally have a very nice trailer mod by -SPC- TEAM, which spawns trailers with random brand names on the side; I use that to determine what I am hauling.
Cargo I usually roleplay: Frozen meat, canned drinks, bottled drinks, clothes, food, other groceries, whatever is written scriptwise.
Loading/unloading procedures: Now this depends. If I am roleplaying scrap metal, I roleplay that in every loading bay stuff is actually loaded in the trailer and unloaded after /dropoff. But if I’m roleplaying bottled water or groceries, I roleplay that I start with a full trailer and just drop off some of the cargo at different locations, and when it comes to the final /dropoff, it is easily roleplayed as a big order emptying the entire trailer.
Tankers. Here I am referring to those cylindrical trailers. Now, most of the time they don’t contain any fuel, but rather some other liquid or some other type of lose material. How I chose to what my trailer contains depends on the time I am willing to spend roleplaying. If I feel like grabbing a truck for a quick spin and some fast cash, I chose something that is not hazardous or dangerous, something like grain or milk. But I feel like putting some more effort into my roleplay that day, I choose fuel. Having a dangerous load should really reflect on your driving, you wouldn’t go swinging the trailer left and right if you knew you had something that can explode, would you?
Cargo I usually roleplay: Grain, milk, juice, fuel, other types of oil (like cooking oil), flour, distilled water.
Loading/unloading procedures: This is practically the same as with the simple trailers. If I’m hauling fuel, I roleplay that it is taken away at every stop; and if it is waste I’m carrying, I roleplay it being put to my trailer.
Worth watching: Trailer hooking/unhooking starts at 10m
Other Vehicle’s Cargo
Talking about Bobcats, Sadlers, Yosemites, Boxvilles and Yankees here. Nothing too different from the big rig’s cargo, just some ideas:
Pickup trucks: empty boxes, small time deliveries like water for water coolers for offices, light furniture
Boxvilles: boxes?, groceries, mail
Yankees: heavy furniture, groceries, canned goods
Accidents
It doesn’t matter how good of the driver you are, accidents will happen. Whenever to roleplay them it’s decision of the parties involved (although I suggest you to roleplay them). There are many different types of accidents, from small paint scrape to serious flip over. There have been lots of threads made on roleplaying car crashes, but with the truck it’s a little bit different. I’m not going to go into much detail here, but will point out some important factors.
Car-truck crashes. These are the most serious ones. Most of the time truck suffers significantly less damage than the car. Nothing too much to be said here, except that the lighter car is screwed up if it happens to collide with a truck. I’ll leave it for your conscience to judge the consequences.
Truck-truck crashes. This is basically just like car-car crashes, but important factor is the load weight. Again, refer to other guides on vehicle crashes.
Trailer accidents. Now this is something truck specific. A lot can happen to the tractor or trailer during a trailer related incident. Here are some of the most common:
Worth watching: Broken ransmission
Sliding trailer: this happens when you choose an unsafe speed while approaching a turn, your trailer gets thrown into an opposite direction of your turn and can cause some major problems. One of the failures can be a broken transmission, which may happen if your trailer starts dragging you in a backwards direction. Another thing that can happen is you trying to maneuver out of the situation and crash into a nearby obstacle or some innocent bystander. And one more thing that can happen, is your trailer spinning around too much and detaching from the tractor, we are going to talk about this one next.
Detached trailer: this might come as a result of a trailer sliding or trailer getting stuck somewhere. This type of incident might damage your truck’s couplings or the fifth wheel, trailer might drop on the rear-end of the vehicle and rip off the tires, break the kingpin, tear off air hoses and such. What’s more, it can slide into an obstacle and innocent bystanders.
Loss of cargo: this might be a result of a trailer crash or failed door locking mechanisms. In this case trailers might leak it’s load (fuel, juice, etc), or stuff might be dropping from the back of the trailer (if it’s a box trailer). This won’t happen scriptwise, but it can always be roleplayed.
Things to be taken into account to roleplay a trailer related incident. When it comes to trailer incidents it is important to know what your trailer contains, because depending on the severity of the incident you might have to move away from the truck because it contains fuel and it can blow up and such. So take load safety and fragility into account. Also, if you happen to have an incident with the firefighters involved, make sure to inform them about the load, so they can adjust their roleplay accordingly.
Bug related incidents. I have to bring this up because it once happened to me. I was driving between Idlewood gas station and Alhambra doing a turn, when suddenly my trailer detached and started sliding down the road, it hit the wall, and when I was about to back up and attach it, it started sinking into the ground and then getting launched up into the air, just to land behind the Alhambra fence. It was annoying, but I parked my truck on the sidewalk and waited for the police and hazmat squad to come. So, I say, if you happen to end up in a bug related incident, just take it as an IC crash.
Roleplaying Small Details
When it comes to roleplay, I like to be really detailed (if I have time and mood). It really helps build up a good scenario and meet some nice people. Here are a few examples of what you can roleplay while trucking.
Trailer hooking/unhooking. Whenever I come to Green Palms to pick up a trailer, I like to roleplay trailer hooking. Simply back up and hook the trailer scriptwise, then get out of your truck and proceed with the hooking procedures.
Fuelling. Trucks, just like other vehicles need fuel, and that LS-RP trucks do not consume fuel, doesn’t mean it cannot be roleplayed that way. From time to time, I like to stop at a fuel station for a refuel and just hang around while the truck is filled.
Breakdowns. Maybe a flat tyre? Or maybe a smashed light? Or maybe you just had a crash and your truck is all bent up and you need to go to a truck service station for a fix? Whatever it is, it can turn out a fun roleplay, especially if you can get other people to help.
Check-ups. Trucks must be checked daily to maintain their good working order. Whenever I start a new day or hook up a new trailer, I like to roleplay a pre-trip check-up. Also, when the tolls are closed, I usually get out of my truck and do a tyre check.
Now this is where most people fail. They want to get everywhere fast, cut corners, fly off the cliffs and such. Do not do that. If you cannot drive, maybe roleplay server isn’t for you? Well ok, I admit, it sometimes gets on the nerves when you have to make hundreds of unnecessary turns which won’t be there in real life, but at least do a 360 check around you to make sure there’s no one close to you, so you don’t spoil their RP mood.
Stop (or at least slow down) at every intersection that has a line crossing your way and look around. This will help you avoid accidents. Also, my personal preference is to show turning signals. How do I do that you ask? Simply with a key binder. There are many out there, but the one I use is AHK (Auto HotKey, there are tons of tutorials on using it on the forums, including one from myself). Just do an /ame <<<< or something along those lines. This way vehicle behind you will know what’s going on.
I see this every day – three cars approach a toll, first one pays and the rest just zoom by behind it and then few more cars pass at 200 kmh… seriously, don’t do that. Not only it drives people like me crazy, it is powergaming and spoils the RP mood. Now some of you may ask why, and here’s why – in reality there’s either a man operating the tolls or they have IR sensors built in. This means, one car per one pay. “But you already paid for the toll” once said the guy I messaged after he zoomed by the toll I paid for. No, no and no. This is how government in real life collects money for the road repairs and similar. So no toll skipping. A good practice is to stop after passing through a toll and block the way for the guy behind you until the toll closes. Sorry, but it just had to be said.
Worth watching: Making turns with a truck
Worth reading: Truck Drivers Manual
Includes truck locations!
Sometimes the location of the depot doesn't show up even after you do /updatemission command. For more experienced truckers it's not a problem as they remember where the depots are, but newer truckers may have a problem with finding the depots or trucks. That's why I made this map. Please let me know if I missed anything.
The map is quite big (1600x1400 px; ~4 MB), so I'm placing a link as I respect people's bandwidth.
Trucker map with all locations
Truck locations explaned (P - Pickup Trucks, B - Boxvilles, Y - Yankees, L - Linerunners, T - Trailers):
DOH - Dohnuts (P+B+Y)
AS - All Saint's (P+B+Y)
THQ - Trucking Headquarters (P)
STU - Studio (P)
RFM - Robin's Food Mart (Y)
ECP - El Corona Police (P+Y)
ECD - El Corona Depot (P+B+Y)
WW - Weapon's Warehouse (P)
AIR - Airport (P+B)
RC - Red County (L)
GP - Green Palms (L+T)
On the side-note: I didn't include Securicars as they seem not to function properly. Also, I know I missed one location of Boxville, so any remarks are welcome
I’m not saying that you must use this as a strict guide, it’s not even written that way. It’s just something to give you a general idea of how to pull out maximum of your trucker roleplay, make it less boring for you and more realistic to people around you. I am not responsible for how you use this guide, just have fun with it.
Feel free to comment and criticise (constructive criticism and useful comments ONLY). I’ve spent 8 hours collecting info and writing this guide, so there are tons of mistakes, as I am tired, so send grammar mistakes to my PM.
TODO:
Change Log: