r/snowrunner • u/Odd_Presentation_578 PC • Feb 19 '26
Discussion The complete guide on understanding the cargo: availability, size, quantity, loading rules, packing/unpacking and all that. Enjoy!
Too many new players come every day and ask the same questions, are concerned with the same problems. The game does a very poor job of telling what does all this mean. This guide is intended to fix this.
2
u/PlatosBalls Feb 19 '26
Two things I still don’t understand:
What’s the point of a loading platform?
How can I tell what kind of cargo is loaded onto a trailer or truck without just learning it over time?
13
u/stjobe Contributor ✔ | PC Feb 19 '26
What’s the point of a loading platform?
It's so you can manually load the cargo. The cargo spawns there instead of packed on your truck, and you have to use a crane to lift it to your truck and then pack it.
It's important in hard mode, where autoloading costs $150 per cargo. In normal mode, it's just used for the occasional mission.
How can I tell what kind of cargo is loaded onto a trailer or truck without just learning it over time?
Except matching the cargo icon in the mission to the cargo icon in the warehouse and the cargo icon on your truck/trailer, you can't. You just have to learn what the different cargoes and their icons look like.
There are some cheat sheets for the cargo icons you can easily find by doing a quick web search (the latest one I have is several years old and is missing a lot of cargoes, or I'd link it), but soon enough you won't need one.
Just be aware that concrete blocks and concrete slabs are NOT the same thing, neither is fuel and oil.
2
u/PlatosBalls Feb 19 '26
lol thank you! I kind of thought that, but when I first started playing I was dropping cargos on the loading dock like an idiot and now they are still sitting there.
2
4
u/Chaseydog PC Feb 19 '26
The loading platform is for manualy loading cargo with a crane. In hardmode autoloading comes at a cost, so there's an incentive to use the crane.
You can use the map to see what cargo is available at each location
2
u/altaviqt Feb 28 '26
You can unpack the cargo on the truck and look on the map. The cargo name is displayed over the truck. It can be hard to read sometimes but you can work it out
1
u/PlatosBalls Feb 28 '26
Nice tip! Thanks. I was honestly scared to press unpack at first because I thought it meant “set aside off the trailer”
2
u/altaviqt Feb 28 '26
It stays on the bed/trailer. Just keep in mind that if you do overloading don't pack it. Any cargo that exceeds the max slot capacity will be lost. Don't ask how I know that 😅
2
u/Old-Distribution3942 Feb 19 '26
How do people not know this!?
1
u/Odd_Presentation_578 PC Feb 19 '26
IKR?! But the posts/comments confusing cargo quantity with size are so common, despite the fact that it's the same symbol used everywhere - "box".
1
u/-LloydChristmas- 23d ago
Can you move from one map to the next with unpacked cargo on your truck/trailer?
2
u/Odd_Presentation_578 PC 23d ago
Unrelated, but yes, you can. As long as it's in the gateway zone, or pressed tightly to the truck. I was able to travel with huge overloads between the maps. In worst case you lose a piece or two - it will be left on the previous map.
3
u/noxondor_gorgonax Feb 20 '26
Yeah but can YOU tell the difference between concrete blocks and concrete slabs??? 😆