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Today’s Pickup: New video game is about making it as a trucker

Dutch-made Truck Driver promises a story-driven experience of building a career hauling freight.

A screen from the forthcoming Truck Driver console game. Photo: Soedesco

Good day,

A forthcoming Dutch-made video game aims to capture the experience of building a career in trucking. Truck Driver, set for release on Playstation 4 and Xbox One on Sept. 19, emphasizes the stories and people over the simulation of hauling freight. 

The official game trailer.

The game thrusts players in the role of a new driver who has just inherited a truck from their father. From here, players build their careers and relationships as they take on increasingly valuable hauls. 

The developer, Triangle Studios, also consulted with truckers to help shape the game.


“I think in the end, experienced truck drivers or new players will have a good time,” Dutch trucker Hans Hooijen said in a video released by the publisher Soedesco

Did you know?

Auto exports in Mexico dropped 12.7% during August versus a year earlier. 

Quotable:

“The idea that there won’t be any money on the table if freight rates double is absurd.”

– Lasse Kristoffersen, CEO of Norwegian shipping company Torvald Klaveness on the prospect of carbon-neutral shipping increasing rates


In other news:

Possible takeover bid forthcoming for Eddie Stobart Logistics

The third-largest shareholder of the UK’s Eddie Stobart Logistics reportedly has an interest in making a takeover bid. (Warrington Worldwide)

DOT awards Michigan $7.5 million for self-driving cars

The U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding $7.5 million to the Michigan Mobility Collaborative, which includes the University of Michigan, the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. (Transport Topics)

Telair to launch cargo-loading system for Airbus A320

Lufthansa set to be the launch customer for Telair’s loading system, which allows the lower deck of A320s to be converted for cargo use. (Air Cargo News)

Court: Sikh drivers must wear helmets at Montreal port site

An appellate court in Canada ruled that Sikh drivers must wear safety helmets while working at a Port of Montreal site. (Montreal Gazette


Clerk gets five years for embezzling $800,000 from trucking company

The former accounts payable clerk at an India trucking company received a five-year prison sentence for embezzlement. (CDL Life)

Final thoughts:

Trucking has a long history as the subject for console and computer games. The Crosscountry series, first released in 1985, became a staple in school computer labs. It simulated long-haul routes and challenged players with variables such as fuel, route efficiency and the need to sleep. 

The forthcoming Truck Driver console game takes a more story-driven approach. And even if it isn’t a simulation, the game may offer an entry point for a new generation of drivers. 

Hammer down, everyone!

3 Comments

  1. خرید اينترنتی

    Serious games that are different versions of the game and incorporate a great deal of excitement and make the user more involved in the games to incorporate better power and control during the run and all have a principled structure that makes this system Creates

    1. Noble1

      Would you mind trying that again ,but this time in English ? Truckers aren’t riding “ships of the desert” out there , although some drive as if they were , and driving a rig is a far cry from being anything similar to “Mario Kart” !

      A “game” is quite different from a “simulator” . A simulator is a good “training tool” but better used as a refining tool for the experienced . That being said , nothing compares to actually being on the road as in this case referring to truck driving .

      In my humble opinion ………

  2. Noble1

    Does it make a new driver filter through a pile of manure through a sieve to find a diamond ?

    Cause that’s the reality of becoming a “new driver” in this industry unless you’re extremely lucky to find a good , knowledgeable ,and ethical employer from the very beginning .

    Making your bones in the business takes a lot more than some “video game” . I mean SERIOUSLY now , a video game ??? LOL !

    Quote:
    “I think in the end, experienced truck drivers or new players will have a good time,”

    Number one : Experienced drivers don’t have time to play games . They’re too busy slaving their lives away on the road to cater to consumer needs !
    That’s why there is a saying about when being a trucker you have no life . That’s due to trucking becoming your life .

    Number two: no pun intended , New truck drivers won’t have much of a life neither once they start trucking !

    Wow now even TRUCKING GAMES are going to deceive our young ones . That’s like saying : “Play some Nintendo Nascar game and you’ll know and learn how to become a race car driver “, ROTFLMAO ! Does the game come with rose colored glasses as well ?

    Yeah and you’re going to learn that you’ll need to sleep through a freakin’ game ? LOL !

    Does it teach drivers that Large Motor Carriers intend on replacing them with autonomous trucks while bleeding them in the process ?

    Stay away from trucking ! Go to school and get yourself a real education where you won’t be battling against big corporations trying to screw you out of earning a descent living . Learn about the politics in the industry , you’ll want to vomit guaranteed .

    You’ll be better off really going for your dreams rather than being a tool slaving for others .

    in my humble opinion …………….

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Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at [email protected].