The Commercial Efficiency Ratio (CER)

[Supplement Four]

I'm perusing Freelance Traveller tonight (one of the best Traveller resources ever created), and I stumble across a very useful calculation tonight that Ken Pick wrote.

Ken calls it the CER - Commerical Efficiency Ratio.

Here's how it works...

========================================

The Commercial Efficiency Ratio (CER) is a relative cost/benefit ratio indicating how well a ship will perform in commercial service. The higher the CER, the more profitable the ship will be to operate.

To calculate the CER for a ship:

Total the Net Tonnage ("revenue space") of the ship in tons, counting each passenger stateroom as 4 tons, each passenger low berth as 1/2 ton, and cargo tonnage as straight tonnage. (Do not count crew staterooms, sickbay/ emergency low berths, or vehicle bays unless the vehicles are part of the cargo; Net Tonnage is only the part of the ship that can be used to carry passengers and cargo.) Multiply this net tonnage by the Jump number, then divide by the ship's cost in MCr.

CER = NetTonnage * JumpNumber / MCr

A CER of 3 is considered minimum for practical commercial service; below this, the ship cannot pay its own way.

If the ship is primarily a passenger ship (passengers pay more per ton), the CER can get down to around 2.5.

A CER of 5 or more can turn a profit even at the common carrier rate of Cr 1000/ton.

The CER assumes that the ship will operate at or near its maximum jump number. Generally, it is not practical to operate a ship much below its designed jump speed

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm perusing Freelance Traveller tonight (one of the best Traveller resources ever created), and I stumble across a very useful calculation tonight that Ken Pick wrote.

Ken calls it the CER - Commerical Efficiency Ratio.

Here's how it works...

========================================

The Commercial Efficiency Ratio (CER) is a relative cost/benefit ratio indicating how well a ship will perform in commercial service. The higher the CER, the more profitable the ship will be to operate.

To calculate the CER for a ship:

Total the Net Tonnage ("revenue space") of the ship in tons, counting each passenger stateroom as 4 tons, each passenger low berth as 1/2 ton, and cargo tonnage as straight tonnage. (Do not count crew staterooms, sickbay/ emergency low berths, or vehicle bays unless the vehicles are part of the cargo; Net Tonnage is only the part of the ship that can be used to carry passengers and cargo.) Multiply this net tonnage by the Jump number, then divide by the ship's cost in MCr.

CER = NetTonnage * JumpNumber / MCr

A CER of 3 is considered minimum for practical commercial service; below this, the ship cannot pay its own way.

If the ship is primarily a passenger ship (passengers pay more per ton), the CER can get down to around 2.5.

A CER of 5 or more can turn a profit even at the common carrier rate of Cr 1000/ton.

The CER assumes that the ship will operate at or near its maximum jump number. Generally, it is not practical to operate a ship much below its designed jump speed

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm going to try the CER out on the 400 ton Type A2 I just created for my game.

Cargo Space = 88 tons
6 Passenger Rooms
4 Low Berths
Jump-2
Cost of Ship: 114MCr


NetTonnage = 88 + (6 * 4) + (4 * 0.5)
NetTonnage = 114

CER = [(114 * 2) / 114]
CER = 2

Obviously, that ship I just created isn't that profitable. I can verify this in that I've had to do some finagling to get the financed price down (depreciation on an older ship) so that my players aren't always operating in the deep red.

The CER is kinda cool, though.

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm going to try the CER out on the 400 ton Type A2 I just created for my game.

Cargo Space = 88 tons
6 Passenger Rooms
4 Low Berths
Jump-2
Cost of Ship: 114MCr


NetTonnage = 88 + (6 * 4) + (4 * 0.5)
NetTonnage = 114

CER = [(114 * 2) / 114]
CER = 2

Obviously, that ship I just created isn't that profitable. I can verify this in that I've had to do some finagling to get the financed price down (depreciation on an older ship) so that my players aren't always operating in the deep red.

The CER is kinda cool, though.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Aren't Mr. Pick's commercial efficiency calculations based on a per-parsec, rather than a per-jump, model?

I recall performing his calculations on a merchant ship design, noting that the CER was somewhere around four, and then realizing the owners couldn't make enough to pay the mortgage unless rates were charged per-parsec (that is, operating "near its maximum jump number").

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Aren't Mr. Pick's commercial efficiency calculations based on a per-parsec, rather than a per-jump, model?

I recall performing his calculations on a merchant ship design, noting that the CER was somewhere around four, and then realizing the owners couldn't make enough to pay the mortgage unless rates were charged per-parsec (that is, operating "near its maximum jump number").

 

[Anthony]

Since Jump # is included in the formula, it's obviously a per-parsec price.

 

[Anthony]

Since Jump # is included in the formula, it's obviously a per-parsec price.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Black Globe Generator:
I recall performing his calculations on a merchant ship design, noting that the CER was somewhere around four, and then realizing the owners couldn't make enough to pay the mortgage unless rates were charged per-parsec (that is, operating "near its maximum jump number").

Yeah, I'm wondering if Ken's little calculation is a little broken.

I was trying to figure, if I dropped the price (depreciated) my A2, what it would take for the players to make a profit.

So, I dropped the price from 114MCr to 54MCr.

That gives a CER number of 4.2.

The problem is, even with financing 54MCr, the ship really can't make money. It's still in the red (with it's 88 tons of cargo and 6 passenger cabins).

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Black Globe Generator:
I recall performing his calculations on a merchant ship design, noting that the CER was somewhere around four, and then realizing the owners couldn't make enough to pay the mortgage unless rates were charged per-parsec (that is, operating "near its maximum jump number").

Yeah, I'm wondering if Ken's little calculation is a little broken.

I was trying to figure, if I dropped the price (depreciated) my A2, what it would take for the players to make a profit.

So, I dropped the price from 114MCr to 54MCr.

That gives a CER number of 4.2.

The problem is, even with financing 54MCr, the ship really can't make money. It's still in the red (with it's 88 tons of cargo and 6 passenger cabins).