Cargo types

Definitions of cargo types used in TTD, TTDPatch and OpenTTD

Unlike in plain nfo, m4nfo uses a 'unified' system in handling cargo types and callbacks. In plain nfo, there are cargo types 'A' and 'B' as well as cargo bits and cargo labels, which are all different, making coding in plain nfo quite cumbersome. This is different in m4nfo, where e.g. the identifier 'COAL' is always used in the various contexts.

TTD Cargo Types

Following table contains the original TTD cargoes for all climates, except 'toyland':

ID*	Cargo label	Cargo class(es)	Cargo description	Climate
0	PASS	TRVL	Passengers	Temperate
2	MAIL	POST	Mail
5	GOOD	EXPRESS	Goods
10	VALU	VALUE	Valuable
4	LVST	PGOODS	Livestock
7	WOOD		Wood
9	STEL		Steel
1	COAL	BULK	Coal
6	GRAI		Grain
8	IORE		Iron ore
3	OIL	LIQUID	Crude oil
12/11	FOOD	EXPRESS, REEF	Food	Arctic
10	GOLD	VALUE	Gold
11/9	PAPR	PGOODS	Paper
6	WHEA	BULK	Wheat
10	DIAM	VALUE	Diamonds	Tropic
13/4	FRUT	BULK, REEF	Fruit
6	MAIZ	BULK	Maize
14/8	CORE		Copper ore
16/1	RUBR	LIQUID	Rubber
15/9	WATR		Water

^*TTD uses two types of cargo IDs, the first one (the cargo bit) is used in refit masks and in the cargo/graphics mapping inside the makevehicle() function, the second one (the cargo slot) is used in the vehicles' definitions. Using m4nfo, you don't need to care about this distinction.

TTDPatch 'special' cargo types

TTDPatch introduces a number of pseudo cargo types for special applications:

FIRST	Use first(*) refittable cargo type as default cargo in vehicle definitions
SPECIAL	Used in makestation() to disable default
MENU	Shown in vehicle purchase lists

* "first" means first with regards to cargoslot(). I.e. this is purely up to the cargo-defining newGRF and cannot be influenced by the vehicle newGRF.

m4nfo introduces yet another pseudo cargo type:

NONE	No cargo type at all, mainly used to clear the cargomask for a vehicle: cargomask(NONE)

ECS Cargo Types

The 'Extended Cargo System' (ECS) is defined on grounds of TTDPatch's newcargo and newindustries features. It is based loosely on common industrial classification lists like ISIC, NACE and NAICS, and thus tries to reflect real conditions of production and transportation.

ECS focuses on the definition and implementation of cargoes. The implementation of appropriate industries for these cargoes is left to individually created industry newGRFs, which might implement a different behaviour in terms of industry production and/or cargo parameterizing.

There's currently a single implementation for the ECS scheme, namely George's "ECS vectors".

Cargo label	Cargo class(es)	Cargo description	Notes
Special cargo
PASS	TRVL	Passengers
MAIL	POST	Mail
TOUR	TRVL, EXPRESS	Tourists
DIAM	VALUE	Diamonds	Tropic
GOLD		Gold	Arctic
VALU		Valuables
Raw materials - mined and excavated
COAL	BULK	Coal
CORE		Copper ore	Tropic
IORE		Iron ore
LIME		Lime stone
SAND		Sand
POTA	BULK, COVERED	Potash
SULP		Sulphur
OIL	LIQUID	Crude oil
WATR		Water
Raw materials - agricultural, forestry and fishing
LVST	PGOODS	Livestock
WOOD		Wood
FICR	PGOODS, BULK	Fibre crops
WOOL	PGOODS, COVERED	Wool
CERE	BULK, COVERED	Cereals
OLSD		Oil seed
FRUT	BULK, REEF	Fruit
FISH	EXPRESS, REEF	Fish
RUBR	LIQUID	Rubber	Tropic
Products
PAPR	PGOODS	paper
STEL		steel
FERT	PGOODS, BULK	Fertilizer
WDPR		Wood products
GLAS	PGOODS, OVERSIZED	Glass
DYES	PGOODS, LIQUID	Dyes
RFPR	LIQUID	Refined products
Consumer goods
GOOD	EXPRESS	Goods
FOOD	EXPRESS, REEF	Food
BRCK	PGOODS	Bricks
CERA		Ceramics
CMNT	POWDER, BULK, COVERED	Cement
PETR	LIQUID	Petrol
VEHI	PGOODS, OVERSIZED	Vehicles, machinery

Summary of cargo types and classes

This table gives a summary of all original TTD cargo types and classes plus those of ECS and FIRS sets, ordered by cargo class.

Cargo class(es)	Cargo label	Description	Stowage Factor (m³/t)	Support
TRVL	PASS	Passengers	n/a	TTD	ECS	FIRS
TRVL, EXPRESS	TOUR	Tourist travellers
POST	MAIL	Mail		TTD		FIRS
VALUE	DIAM	Diamonds
	GOLD	Gold
	VALU	Valuables
BULK	AORE	Bauxite (Aluminum ore)	0.8		ECS	FIRS
	BEAN	Beans	1.5
	CASS	Cassava	1.36
	COAL	Coal	1.2	TTD	ECS
	COKE	Coke	1.2
	CORE	Copper ore	0.3	TTD	ECS
	GRAI	Grain	1.45
	GRVL	Gravel	0.65
	IORE	Iron ore	0.54	TTD	ECS
	LIME	Limestone	0.7
	MAIZ	Maize	1.38	TTD
	MNO2	Manganese	0.21
	NITR	Nitrate	1.0
	PEAT	Peat	0.9 .. 6.6
	PHOS	Phosphate	1.1
	PORE	Pyrite ore	0.4
	SAND	Sand	0.75		ECS
	SGBT	Sugar beet	3.7
	SLAG	Slag	0.71
	WHEA	Wheat	1.45	TTD
BULK, PGOODS	FERT	Fertilizer	0.9		ECS	FIRS
	FICR	Fibre crops	4.0
	WDPR	Wood products	3.0
BULK, REEF	FRUT	Fruits, vegetables	2.5	TTD
BULK, COVERED	CERE	Cereals	1.45
	CLAY	Clay	1.0			FIRS
	KAOL	Kaolin	0.38
	OLSD	Oil seeds	1.8		ECS
	POTA	Potash	0.9
	QLME	Quick lime	0.29			FIRS
	SALT	Salt	1.1
	SASH	Soda ash	0.42
	SULP	Sulphur	0.9		ECS
BULK, COVERED, POWDER	CMNT	Cement	0.8
BULK, NONPOUR	SCMT	Scrap metal	2.0
EXPRESS	GOOD	Goods	n/a	TTD	ECS	FIRS
EXPRESS, PGOODS	BOOM	Explosives	n/a
	ENSP	Engineering supplies	n/a
	FMSP	Farm supplies	n/a
	JAVA	Coffee	1.85
	MNSP	Manufacturing supplies	n/a
	VPTS	Vehicle parts	7.0
EXPRESS, REEF	FISH	Fish, seafood	2.0		ECS
	FOOD	Food	1.5	TTD
EXPRESS, PGOODS, LIQUID	BEER	Alcohol	2.0
EXPRESS, LIQUID, REEF	MILK	Milk	0.97
PGOODS	BRCK	Bricks	0.53		ECS
	CERA	Ceramics	0.4
	COPR	Copper	n/a			FIRS
	IRON	Pig iron	0.28
	LVST	Livestock	n/a	TTD	ECS
	METL	Metal	n/a
	NUTS	nuts	3.2
	PAPR	Paper	1.8	TTD	ECS
	PIPE	Pipe(s)	n/a
	POWR	Electrical machines	n/a
	STEL	Steel	0.25 .. 1.5	TTD	ECS
	VBOD	Vehicle bodies	n/a
	VPTS	Vehicle parts	n/a
	WOOD	Wood (trunk)	1.42	TTD	ECS
	ZINC	Zinc	0.14
PGOODS, COVERED	BDMT	Building materials	n/a		ECS
	RCYC	Recyclables	n/a
	WOOL	Wool	5.0		ECS
PGOODS, OVERSIZED	GLAS	Glass products	n/a
	VEHI	Vehicles, machinery	5.0			FIRS
PGOODS, LIQUID	DYES	Dyes, paintings	1.3
	EOIL	Edible oil	1.1			FIRS
LIQUID	OIL	Crude oil	n/a	TTD	ECS	FIRS
	PETR	Petrol, gasoline
	RFPR	Refined products, chemicals
	RUBR	Natural rubber, caoutchouc		TTD
	WATR	Water
LIQUID, HAZARD	ACID	Acid	n/a			FIRS
	CHLO	Chlorine

The stowage factor indicates how many cubic metres of space one metric tonne of a particular type of cargo occupies in a hold of a cargo ship or a freight car. Due to means of transportation and packaging, these numbers might differ considerably. E.g., stowage factors for "steel" could be in the range of 0.22 m³/t for sheet metal and 1.5 m³/t for cast iron pipes with large diameter. Likewise numbers for "fruit" are highly dependable on packaging, not to speak of totally generic freight like "goods".

In general, the stowage factor limits cargo load for types of freight with a high stowage factor. E.g., the smallest open freight car in the DB Set XL with a loading space of 18 m³ and a loading weight of 15 tonnes, can carry 15 tonnes of coal, but only 12.4 tonnes of grain (18 m³ / 1.45 m³/t). And for sugar beet with a stowage factor of 3.7 m³/t, the loading weight would be significantly reduced to only 5 tonnes.

In this context, "n/a" in the table above means "not applicable", either since specific cargoes of a certain type might be too different with regards to their stowage factors (BDMT = "building materials" could be anything from cement, timber, stone, steel, glass, etc), or aren't covered by the concept of stowage factors in a vehicle set (like "passengers" or "valuables"), or are accounted for in volume (liquids), but not in weight. Values might be set explicitly by the vehicle newGRF, if needed.