WarChylde Posted Jul 7, 2016, 5:10 pm	This is intended for new players, or those who don't currently run couriers. The orientation is toward the northern triangle. It's not a huge money making proposition, usually, but it will pay the bills and train a driver/scout for you pretty quickly. I use a PU with a 3.2 engine. It is exposed, so getting shot isn't a good thing, lol. For your first couple, look for looted items with 5% serious damage or less. Once you are making money, it can be worthwhile building one from scratch. I suggest doing that in Gateway, as it is substantially cheaper. Use Grade B armor. I use 15 front, 16 rear, 12 on the sides, and 6 for top and bottom. This isn't fully armored, as I am trading some protection for less weight. I use a 15 unit fuel tank, as this is large enough to run to BL and farther south once you have a skilled driver/scout. I use a Light Rocket on the front. It's pointless as a weapon, but I understand that having some sort of weapon increases the chance of the enemy demo if they only have one vehicle close to you. This set up gives a passenger capacity of 1 for taxi purposes, or 136 cargo space. Use offroad tires, since you should be running mostly on dirt and sand. I rarely try to stay on the road, as you will be caught by most muscles. Off the road, however, you will happily jump dunes and run off cliffs that the cars won't be able to pass. Personally, I recruit drivers, as they will train scouting faster than driving. These are my thoughts for anyone wanting to run simple couriers in the northern triangle. It is oriented toward the new player who can't put a v8 in an A armored Voyager or Apache. Any other thoughts would be welcomed.
*Awefense* Posted Jul 7, 2016, 5:51 pm	When my scouting program went into overdrive, I had 4 to 6 drivers heading back and forth to The Pentagon each and every day. They were using 4L phoenixes and 5LV8 BPU's. This was back before I started running lorrys. I now have 7 scouts all capped within 148 and 177, with 3 more younger ones that are slowly skilling up. I have so many scouts now, that many sit around, but when I need one, one can usually be found.
*The X Man* Posted Jul 7, 2016, 5:56 pm	My little add on to your PU build is to use A armor and fully armor all facings. This will still be lighter in overall weight to keep the PU quick and it will also increase your fuel efficiency. Yes, A armor is more costly, but this should be a one time expense. As a courier, you are not engaging in combat and most of the time you will never get hit. So upkeep $$ will still be minimal, even for the new players starting this up. As your drivers train up and get to 50 skill, defensive driver spec should be your first choice. Scouts should take Path Finder. Also, to be as profitable as possible, do all courier travels at 45mph. The quicker you get to your destination, the quicker you can get started on your next one. Yes, 30mph or less can decrease your chances of encounters, but as a new player with new gangers, you are probably going to get an encounter anyways. So why make your travels longer?? Remember, getting into encounters and driving away and escaping is how you earn driving skill, auto truces don't do anything. And as a new player, you want every opportunity to increase your characters skills.
WarChylde Posted Jul 7, 2016, 6:04 pm	Good ideas, thanks. I'd probably look at the A armor once I was building them from scratch, tho. You should be profitable by then.
*Splurs* Posted Jul 7, 2016, 8:14 pm	Depending how much money is wanted to be made vs skill gains, I run a flash with a 3.2 in it and a 20L tank from BL-Sars, I will run a new recruit back and fwd, usually running fuel back, doesnt give me much room at all, however the skill gains are usually around 4-5 points of scout per run. Almost always guarenteed to get 5 encounters, a gates from BL, 3 roads and a gates at Sars, so I always travel at 45mph. With the speed of the flash it is quite easy to outrun cars.
JoniBoy Posted Jul 7, 2016, 8:29 pm	I have never used couriers to train scouts nor make money. But in a very early stage I started traveling around Evan to buy Eatons from Sarfield, carrying EPs to camps so I could get my first 3.2v8s and following the Circuit Of Evan route. The car I found most reliable was a Voyager, fully B armored and with an exposed 4L can outrun almost everything, travels softly over rough terrain, carries 4 dudes and has almost 90 bulk for cargo or fueltank. I never bothered about that light rocket since you will most likely outrun your enemies before they want to go home.
Iron Wraith Posted Jul 7, 2016, 10:37 pm	3.2l spirits with B armour 11 front, 15 sides 21 rear and 5 top and bottom. 12 tank. OR tyres. No weapons. This runs fast, is stable and can carry 118 cargo (netting about 5k for mail SS-GW). I run a fleet of 10. I can seldom get 10 runs per day (as I won't run for less than 5K) and so I run at 15 mph. I usually send between 4-6 a day. Next day there will be 4-6 new jobs and I'll send 4-6 more. Next day my first lot will have arrived and I can turn the round again. Early on I might lose a car every 10-15 runs (with pish gangers). After 30 runs I might loose 1 in 50. I can't remember last time I lost one (and that was probably on a new map)
Doc Death Posted Jul 8, 2016, 2:51 pm	I am with Joniboy on this, the Voyager fast became my car of choice for all types of couriering. I still run a couple now as I find them good for moving crews if you want to pick up a car from another base. Still I may have to build me one of them A armor PU.
*Brunwulf* Posted Jul 8, 2016, 7:45 pm	Doc Death said: I am with Joniboy on this, the Voyager fast became my car of choice for all types of couriering. I still run a couple now as I find them good for moving crews if you want to pick up a car from another base. Still I may have to build me one of them A armor PU. Yeah- although it's horses for courses, and ppl always have their fave chassis- I can't help but give my opinion that a Voyager is the 'safest' courier. They turn really fast, hardly ever turtle, and are very predictable. I always have fueltanks in multiples of 8- but thats just a camp running habit cos 1 can of fuel= 8 units. Use A armour, and I always run at 17/14/14/14/7/6 (you're not going to be hanging around to take damage, so more than that is just extra weight) 3.2LV8 is best- but 4L will do just fine. I still use them for scout training- run a few cans of fuel from TEX to SS, and scouting will shoot up with the fuel profits more than covering the journey costs and armour repairs.
d0dger Posted Jul 8, 2016, 11:49 pm	Count me in on the Voyager bandwagon. Great courier/scout trainer with good speed, great handling, and decent bulk capacity. Good with 3.2, better with V8 or 4L (I think 4 L is exposed but you're just going to run away.)
WarChylde Posted Jul 9, 2016, 1:58 pm	I'm going to give the voyager a shot. I have a driver who should be able to run past badlands now, so will take a few northern trips to get used to it, and then head south. If he doesn't bring that v8 home, he'd better not plan to come home
WarChylde Posted Jul 20, 2016, 10:18 pm	I am definitely seeing why the voyager is popular, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to keep using the 3.2L for beginning drivers, tho. I'll bump them to a 3LR once they hit 50 driving, and spend the cash for a v8 once I'm reasonably sure they will bring it home. I do wish it produced a higher income, tho.