Shifts, clock and weather
You play in shifts. A shift is one round of work, eight game hours long. The game clock runs while you drive. About 15 game minutes pass every real minute. So a shift takes roughly half an hour. Every shift brings new weather. The light follows the real winter sun of northern Sweden.
The clock
Look at the top right. The clock is there, with the shift and the weather. A new career starts with the day shift on 19 February.
| Shift | Hours |
|---|---|
| Day shift | 06–14 |
| Evening shift | 14–22 |
| Night shift | 22–06 |
The shifts come one after the other in that order. Half an hour before the end, a message says the shift is nearly over. The radio and the drivers follow the clock too. They say things like "this morning", "this evening" or "tonight".
When the shift ends
After the end time, Base sends no new calls. But a shift never ends in the middle of a job. If you are still working on one, the screen says "Last job of the shift". Finish it first.
Then you see the shift summary. It shows:
- how many jobs you did,
- what you earned,
- the damage,
- how long you worked,
- and a peek at the next shift: which shift, when it starts and what the weather will be.
From there you can choose "Go to the shop", "Work another shift" or "Save and quit". Esc (B) never closes the summary by mistake. It just moves your choice to "Work another shift". The new shift starts with your truck in the workshop yard.
The five kinds of weather
Each shift gets new weather. It is never the same two shifts in a row. All the jobs in a shift have the same weather. Base tells you about it on the radio.
| Weather | On the road | Extra pay and time |
|---|---|---|
| Clear | Dry road, the best grip | none |
| Wet | Above zero and wet. It can be slippery in the shade | +10% |
| Fog | Wet road and thick fog. You can see less than a hundred metres | +15% |
| Snowfall | Heavy snow and a slushy road. It takes longer to stop | +25% |
| Blizzard | Snow drifts over the road. You can hardly see anything | +30% |
The extra goes on the payment. It also goes on the target time for the time bonus. So bad weather pays more, and you don't lose your time bonus. Clear weather is the most common. Fog and blizzards are the rarest.
Weather and the jobs
Some jobs show up more often in certain weather or at certain hours. Jump-starts come more often on clear mornings. Snowbanks come more often in snowfall and blizzards. The school bus ends up in the ditch more often on wet mornings. The car through the ice only happens when it's cold, never in wet weather. Read Jobs and radio calls.
Daylight at 64° north
The light follows the clock and the real path of the sun at 64° north in winter. Mornings are dark. The day is short and the sun stays low. Then comes a blue dusk, and then night. At night, your headlights and the truck's lights make all the difference. Night shifts are mostly driven in the dark.
Saving
The game saves the clock, the shift and the weather. It also saves your money and your trucks. So you carry on where you stopped. Want to drive better in bad weather? Read Tips for new drivers.