SCS Software launched American Truck Simulator in February 2016 with California and Nevada, then spent the next decade adding states one map expansion at a time, from Arizona through Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. The world runs at roughly 1:20 scale, so a Los Angeles to Denver haul takes real hours rather than real days, and the 80,000 pound federal gross weight limit governs what you can legally put behind the cab. You start as a hired driver taking quick jobs, and end up running a company with garages, hired drivers and a fleet you specified engine by engine.
Starting American Truck Simulator can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
American Truck Simulator is a simulation game built around Job types and the freight market and Driver skills and ADR training. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Long Distance | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| High Value Cargo | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Fragile Cargo | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Just In Time Delivery | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| ADR hazardous materials | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with High Value Cargo. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid ADR hazardous materials as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Job types and the freight market
Quick jobs use a company truck and pay immediately, while freight market and cargo market jobs need your own truck and trailer and pay considerably more. Owning a trailer means you keep the whole fee instead of renting capacity from someone else.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Job types and the freight market works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to California
Base game territory, from Los Angeles and San Diego up through Bakersfield and Fresno to San Francisco, Sacramento and Redding. The most varied road network in the game, mixing eight lane urban freeway with Highway 101 coastline.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Peterbilt 389: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The other long nose icon, heavily customisable with chrome, exhaust stacks and lighting. Same trade as the W900: presence over practicality.
Step 4: Understand Driver skills and ADR training
Experience spends into Long Distance, High Value Cargo, Fragile Cargo, Just In Time Delivery, Ecodriving and ADR hazardous materials classes. ADR unlocks fuel and chemical loads that pay noticeably better than dry freight over the same distance.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Texas
The biggest single map expansion at release, running from El Paso across to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin with long empty stretches through Amarillo and Lubbock. Distances here are where Long Distance skill points earn their keep.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Job types and the freight market
Quick jobs use a company truck and pay immediately, while freight market and cargo market jobs need your own truck and trailer and pay considerably more. Owning a trailer means you keep the whole fee instead of renting capacity from someone else.
Driver skills and ADR training
Experience spends into Long Distance, High Value Cargo, Fragile Cargo, Just In Time Delivery, Ecodriving and ADR hazardous materials classes. ADR unlocks fuel and chemical loads that pay noticeably better than dry freight over the same distance.
Garages, hired drivers and company growth
Buying and upgrading a garage gives you slots for trucks and hired drivers who run their own jobs while you sleep. An upgraded garage holds five, which is the point where the company income starts to exceed what you personally earn driving.
Truck configuration and engine choice
Every truck lets you pick engine, transmission, chassis layout, cabin and fuel tank. A 450 horsepower engine handles standard 40,000 pound loads fine, and the 600 horsepower class engines exist for heavy and oversize work in mountain states.
Fatigue, fines and cargo damage
Your driver gets tired and needs sleep, police issue fines for speeding, red lights, wrong way driving and skipping weigh stations, and cargo takes damage from collisions. All three are deductions from a delivery fee that looked much better when you accepted it.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Taking quick jobs forever because they need no trailer, and never accumulating the capital to buy a truck that pays double
2. Buying a 600 horsepower engine for flat dry van work, where a 450 does the same job and burns less fuel
3. Ignoring cargo damage on fragile loads, then watching a long haul fee evaporate into penalties at the dock
4. Placing every garage in the same corner of the map so hired drivers compete for the same small pool of jobs
5. Speeding through small towns where the limit drops sharply, which is where most players collect their fines
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Job types and the freight market and Driver skills and ADR training
- Choose High Value Cargo as starting build
- Clear California main content
- Acquire Peterbilt 389 or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Texas
- Buy your own trailer before buying a second truck. Owning the trailer means you keep the full delivery fee on freight market jobs instead of splitting it, and that difference funds the rest of the company faster than another cab ever will.
- Place your first garage centrally rather than in your favourite city. A garage in Nevada or Utah puts hired drivers within reach of far more of the map than one in the corner of California, and driver income depends on job availability near their base.
Tips for New Players
- Buy your own trailer before buying a second truck. Owning the trailer means you keep the full delivery fee on freight market jobs instead of splitting it, and that difference funds the rest of the company faster than another cab ever will.
- Place your first garage centrally rather than in your favourite city. A garage in Nevada or Utah puts hired drivers within reach of far more of the map than one in the corner of California, and driver income depends on job availability near their base.
- Spend early skill points on Long Distance. Almost every job in the game has a distance component, so the skill applies constantly, while specialised skills such as Fragile Cargo only pay on the jobs that use them.
- Take ADR training as soon as you can afford the points. Hazardous loads pay a premium over identical distances, and the only real cost is that you must drive more carefully to avoid damage penalties.
- Refuel before mountain grades rather than after. Climbing through Wyoming or Montana burns fuel far faster than flat interstate running, and the gaps between stations in those states are long enough to strand you.
- Obey weigh station signs. Driving past an open station is a fine, and the fine plus the reputation hit costs more than the ninety seconds the stop takes.
- Use cruise control on interstate stretches and set it just under the limit. It stops the slow creep over the speed limit that produces most speeding fines, and it improves the Ecodriving fuel figures at the same time.
- Read the route before accepting oversize or heavy cargo. Special Transport loads follow fixed escorted routes and Heavy Cargo loads struggle with tight urban approaches, so the job that looked profitable can turn into an hour of reversing.
- Assign hired drivers to cargo types that match their trained skills. A driver with Long Distance running short urban hops earns a fraction of what the same driver earns on cross state freight.
- Sleep before your fatigue meter forces it. Falling asleep at the wheel does damage and time you cannot undo, and truck stops are common enough that a planned ten minute stop never costs a delivery deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states come with the base game?
California and Nevada. Everything else, from Arizona and New Mexico through Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, arrives as separate map expansion DLC.
What map scale does the game use?
Roughly 1:20, so distances are compressed but still substantial. A cross state haul takes a genuine hour or more of driving, which is the point rather than a flaw.
Do I need a wheel to play?
No. Keyboard and controller both work, and plenty of players drive thousands of hours on a controller. A wheel improves fine steering and immersion but changes nothing about job availability or pay.
How do I make money faster?
Buy your own trailer, take long distance freight market jobs over quick jobs, put points into Long Distance and ADR early, then hire drivers once you can afford a garage upgrade.
Does American Truck Simulator share progress with Euro Truck Simulator 2?
No. They are separate games with separate saves and separate economies, though they share an engine, a similar interface and the same World of Trucks account for online contracts.
More American Truck Simulator Guides
- American Truck Simulator American Truck Simulator Overview
- American Truck Simulator Best Builds
- American Truck Simulator Tier List
- American Truck Simulator Walkthrough
- American Truck Simulator Tips & Tricks
- American Truck Simulator Weapons Guide
- American Truck Simulator Combat Guide
- American Truck Simulator Boss Guide
- American Truck Simulator Maps & Locations
- American Truck Simulator Crafting Guide
- American Truck Simulator Classes & Characters
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