What ships move cargo in Traveller?

[epicenter00]

At the gaming store and online, I have a lot of discussions about how trade works in Traveller, but recently something which is at the depths of nerdy questions has begun to bug me that I think that only the really knowledgeable vets on here can answer:

Is there any suggestion about the economic model in Traveller in any of the editions - I don't think it's ever been explained outright (though I could be wrong).

For example, a common view Traveller interstellar trade is that huge megacorporate haulers dominate trade on the large shipping lanes, but I'm pretty sure that's a player invention (though has MWM mentioned it in AotI?). Is there any suggestion of actual intermodal containerization as we think of it today? I always had the impression Traveller's goods were all carried "loose" (like in cargo boxes).

In canon, is trade assumed to be moved entirely by small ships?

Have suggestions of the economic model shifted between editions of Traveller or even within editions? (Like was there a shift from CT books 1-3 to Merchant Prince / High Guard?)

 

[Enoki]

I use a homebrew system to determine the economic power of a system / world that derives a value between 1 and 10. What I've found using it is that there are typically 2 to 5 systems in a subsector that are the major economies. The rest of the systems / worlds in the subsector are either minor players economically, or are total basket cases.

What I assume is that the really big shippers and megacorporations only ship to those few economic powerhouses in the subsector. They might go to the subsector capitol too even if it isn't one of the major powerhouses. Outside that, they don't bother with the rest of the systems.
That's where small ships come in. These are hauling cargo at a scale that leaves them a full manifest to these smaller economies. The micro-haulers of 100 to 200 tons might even visit some of the basket case systems to eke out a few extra credits. So, the purpose of the small ship is not to make major movements of cargo between major ports but rather to pick up cargo at a major port and haul it to a minor port and vice versa.

 

[McPerth]

I liked the analogy someone made some time ago:

Megacorps and lage lines move the cargo and passengers along the main routes in very large ships (as the one shown in MT:RS page 80, 20 kdton, J3, 10800 donts of cargo, or even larger, J4 ones, to allow for the J4 parts of the mail lines), or similarly large lineers. This would be like the current railroads, and, of course, out of most players' scope (though one of those lineers may be an scenario for an adventure).

One in those cargo/passengers hubs along the main lines, smallr lines and even free traders take the distrubution to other worlds in the zone. This would be as the lorries/vans making médium/detail distribution from railroad stations to the factories, stores and customres in current world. Here's where the players (and oher small lines/tramp traders( have their niche, as the lorries companies or independent lorry/van drivers.

About how the cargo is carries, IMTU 1 dton standardized containers are quite usual, so allowing most shps to know beforehand how many containers they can carry, and easing the handling of the cargoes.

Many planets, considered unimprtant by most companies, are mostly serviced by tramp merchants, in many instances by subszed (often by sbsector dukes/governments) ones that avoid em to be out of touch of the rest of universe.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Is there any suggestion about the economic model in Traveller in any of the editions - I don't think it's ever been explained outright (though I could be wrong).

We might not have a grand strategic overview of the Imperial economy (GURPS Far Trader excepted), but we do have bits and pieces.

Shipping is probably only a small part of the economy, yet we know more about it than most other sectors. We know very little about e.g. industry or agriculture.

TRADE ROUTES AND FEEDER LINES
At first glance, starships seem to just follow straight lines from origin to destination. The reality is quite different. There is a kind of terrain in interstellar space; clusters of worlds and regions of empty space direct ships into distinct channels.
The Imperium is crisscrossed with trade routes which jump between major worlds, connecting vital suppliers with essential markets, important government worlds with high population worlds, and strategic resources with exploiting industry. Trade routes are a natural outgrowth of economic and market pressures. When a market is no longer profitable, the trade routes bypass it.
The trade routes are the territory of the Imperium’s largest trading companies. They maintain fleets of commercial transports and merchants who serve these tradeworlds, and they reap large profits in doing so.
But the trade routes directly serve fewer than a tenth of the worlds of the Imperium. The other 90 percent of the imperium’s worlds are served by feeder lines, tramp freighters, and free traders. These smaller companies and unscheduled ships carry passengers and cargo between worlds off the main trade routes.
A traveller leaving Menorb for Heya would first catch a tramp freighter for Pixie and transfer to a scheduled liner for Kinorb. Once at Kinorb. he would wait for the first available ship to Heya. Ships along the trade routes are scheduled and predictable; ships travelling to worlds off the main routes are unscheduled and unpredictable.

MT Player Manual, p35.


I do not think the Imperium is supposed to be a static homogenous monolith that works the same every-time, everywhere.

 

[Condottiere]

Sounds like someone should set up an Uber service, plus lag.

Travellers than rate their rides.

 

[robject]

I do not think the Imperium is supposed to be a static homogenous monolith that works the same every-time, everywhere.

I think this is true.

 

[Black Vulmea]

I do not think the Imperium is supposed to be a static homogenous monolith that works the same every-time, everywhere.

Serio. Eres sabio.

 

[Whipsnade]

While my "model" for trade has long been something akin to the trade routes section found in TTA, I also realized that a section discussing trade routes and carriers in a border subsector didn't tell me much about trade routes and carriers around Sylea, Terra, Vland, and other regions.

Using a rough analogy the Usual Suspects won't completely grasp, in some parts of the Imperium trade is LBB:3, in other parts trade is LBB:7, and in yet other parts trade is GT:FT.

 

[kilemall]

I would say the GURPS Trader is the biggest stab at this topic.

As far as how it works, beyond the 'main trade route' bit already quoted not a lot of 'how it works' out there, and that's a good thing.
Because you can then tailor to your universe.

Small ship/Big ship universe matters, whether it's frontier or a 3000-year Core matters in both population and what is getting shipped, whether it is megacorps or Spacer Guild or small intrepid lines doing some old fashioned Yankee trading, this is all universe decision/flavoring.

A lot of people have opinions and/or choices, but I wouldn't characterize that sort of thing as definitive.
Are you interested in forum opinions/options, or just published/canon?


Oh I should mention that earliest containerization, the container they had parked next to the Type R in the original CT ship supplement. It never floated my boat so I ignore it, but should be mentioned for completeness' sake.

 

[kilemall]

Sounds like someone should set up an Uber service, plus lag.

Travellers than rate their rides.

I expect that something like that would be a TAS thing, and would explain positive or negative DMs for exceptional/dismal service/luxuries and better ticketing rates.


I also do negative DMs for higher then usual Low Berth deaths, which usually would happen with skimping on Medics.

 

[Old School]

it makes economic sense that on mains with high shipping volumes, larger vessels will dominate. For about a billion credits you can get a jump-2 cargo vessel with over 3,000 tons capacity. At jump-1you’re less then 250,000 credits per ton of capacity for a 5,000 ton vessel.

200 or 400 ton vessels just can’t compete price wise when there is scale to fill those larger ships. Hence the notion that tramp traders work the backwaters.

 

[Timerover51]

Large ships move mainly between A and B class star ports, with your subsidized ships covering some of the C class, along with larger ships to the high population C class ports. The Free Traders and Far Traders cover the D and E class ports and the low population C class.

In nautical terms, the Liners travel the routes between A and B, while the Free and Far Traders act as the tamp ships, going to where cargo takes them and can be found.

 

[mike wightman]

This is one of those 'it varies according to rules and setting' answers.

In a universe designed with the rules of 77 CT then the majority of merchant vessels follow the trade lanes you generate between worlds.
In fact a merchant can only go off the trade lane network if the ship has the generate computer program.

In the 3I setting there is lots of info. on different types of merchant operation - no need to repeat what others have posted - which boil down to the x-boat routes map the common long established trade routes.

The requirement for a trade lane to purchase a jump cassette in place of the generate program is dropped.

 

[Timerover51]

The other thing that defines what type of ships move cargo is the nature of the cargo and how much is being moved.

Are you moving massive quantities of bulk raw materials like the majority of the traffic on the Great Lakes? Then you have large bulk cargo carriers with little or no passenger accommodation and basically a large box with a propulsion and control unit. Speed is not so critical once the pipeline is filled with regular deliveries.

If much of the cargo is containerized freight, then a wide range of ships is needed for the larger population planets and the smaller ones.

Food is a specialized cargo depending on its nature. Is it carried in bulk like grain, does int need refrigeration like meat and some fruits, or is the key fast delivery to guarantee freshness of the item?

Lastly, how self-sufficient are the worlds in your particular universe? A planetary government might be varied concerned about a bad balance of payments or becoming too dependent on imported technology.

 

[GypsyComet]

Hence the notion that tramp traders work the backwaters.

And "around the edges" in the other sense as well. A small ship can find brokers nearly anywhere, arranging shipping to nearly anywhere. The implication between the big worlds is that the free traders are sniffing for literal left-overs. Q-Corp drops 129 shipping containers at the port for off-world transit, but the mega-freighter of the day only had room for 109, and tomorrow's mega-freighter is also already booked to the roof. Trans-World's MegaCorp Accounts Broker passes a note to the Short-term Broker down the hall, who either checks the free traders in port or puts a notice where they'll see it, and waits for the comm-call. The first Captain in the door with 80 tons of space going where the Q-Corp containers need to go gets 'em.

Is there any suggestion of actual intermodal containerization as we think of it today? I always had the impression Traveller's goods were all carried "loose" (like in cargo boxes).

The four dton cargo boxes explicitly referenced in CT's write-up of the Type R are just the right size to be easily intermodal, as they are about the size of a short box you would see on a semi truck these days.

True bulk transport is probably done via specialized ships in the 10k to 20k range, and is likely either Vilani levels of standardized or custom built for the local need. What works for Quinticale might not work for Antarean Corn (which is neither).

 

[Selandia]

Trade models are a matter of location in time and place

In the immensity of the third imperium, over centuries, I am sure you'll find the place for your adventure, where your decree as to how the local ecnomic work make enough sense to be gamed.

Read about Tristan Da Cunha
270 inhabitants
no airport
since the lobster cannery whent up in flamme
South African Trawlers visit on average once every month (kinda Free trader)
A Royal Mail Ship once a year (kinda Subsidized liner)

That on a world where the harbors of the west coast of N-A are saturated by containners shipping that grow faster than the harbors.

Have fun

Selandia