Cargo Containers

[BP]

Are there any standard cargo container sizes mentioned in any of the MGT books?

 

[rust]

There are detailed descriptions of various types of cargo containers in
GURPS Traveller Far Trader, but I am not aware of anything like that
for Mongoose Traveller.

 

[GamerDude]

Are there any standard cargo container sizes mentioned in any of the MGT books?

i haven't looked in the MGT books, but I did a quick search on Google and came up with this:

Wikipedia: Computerization. Scroll down to "ISO" and "LD containers" Lots of good standardized container information which fits with many of the Traveller illustrations I've seen where cargo is being loaded/unloaded from a ship.

 

[BP]

Thanks guys! GamerDude - yep, I was just there!

I only ask in relation to making deckplans for a merchant ship.

I'm looking at 'standardizing' on nominal (i.e. actually smaller to fit in) 3m wide x 3m high x 6 m long.

This should 'fit' nicely in many deckplans I've seen - double stacking in 6m high cargo holds.

Of course, Merchant Prince might address this...

 

[RandyT0001]

Might want to look at pallets (also called skids) that can be combined with bulk boxes. There is also the standardized US Air Force 'pallet', the 463L. Another option is using or basing containers on the ULD or unit loading device. Some ISO containers are better suited for certain pallets also. I think using a modified NA 48"x40" pallet to fill ISO containers where the pallets themselves can be 'broken down' by releasing some catches into quarters, each about 24"x20", for easier use on smaller, narrow jacks through office doorways, etc. seems like a good idea. YMMV

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Core Rule Book:
The Modular Cutter uses a 30-ton standard container. (same as previous versions of Traveller)

Scouts:
50-ton Scout Module

Traders and Gunboats:
Several different module sizes are mentioned.

3rd Party: Avenger's Archaic Spacecraft
Has a smaller (10-ton I think) module.

As for dimensions, those are NOT given in the Mongoose books, but since 1 ton is 1.5mx1.5mx3m, you can map it out.

The 30-ton Module is just about the closest thing to a "standard" module that Traveller has. Previous versions of Traveller gave the dimensions as 3mx7.5mx18m or some variation of that, such as 6mx7.5mx9m.

The hard part is to figure out how to fit the module into 1.5mx1.5m squares from the deckplans.

 

[AndrewW]

The superfreighter in High Guard uses 2,000 ton modules.

The Aslan Bulk Hauler uses 39 ton cargo pods.

The Reign of Discordia Hauler uses 500 ton cargo modules.

 

[BP]

Thanks! The concensus seems to be that there is no 'standard cargo container sizes' in MGT to date.

Assuming, cargo containers would fit inside larger 'modules', having advantages for loading/unloading speed, and planetside/station transport. However, they would not fill every hold 'completely' full due to size/geometry. (Other cargo (bulk/break bulk) would ship as is, or in specialized containers dependent on the nature, etc.)

Smaller 'ULD' sized containers, pallets, etc. would still be used (even inside containers).

 

[rust]

In my settings I use many different container sizes and shapes. Different
worlds have different needs and therefore use different systems, freight
lines use different containers to protect their markets from competitors,
and so on.

For example, one of my water worlds uses the archetypical 30 dton cutter
modules as the standard module, mostly because I used the modules de-
signed by Dave Chase to outfit the first colony there.
However, the industrial planet the world trades with has signed a treaty
with a megacorporation that has a fleet of freighters outfitted to use the
big 800 dton barges, and the free traders of the region have agreed to
use 50 dton modules.

In my view such differences add a bit of additional colour to a setting, and
they can also be used now and then to make the lives of the characters
a bit more interesting: "Well, sure, we do have containers for the transport
of live animals, but they are 50 dton containers, and the modular starship
that leaves tomorrow carries only 30 dton containers - you will have to
keep those animals here on planet for at least two more weeks. And you
are sure they need this costly Aldebaran Wheat, and there is enough of
it on planet ?".

 

[phavoc]

There are detailed descriptions of various types of cargo containers in
GURPS Traveller Far Trader, but I am not aware of anything like that
for Mongoose Traveller.

I agree with Rust. GURPS Traveller has a great explanation of standardized containers for transporting cargo, especially in the smaller ships. If memory serves me correct I think they start with 10 displacement tons and go on up from there. The smaller "standardized" containers are 10, 20, 30, 40. And the cargo vehicles and loaders and assorted gear are all built around standardization. I THINK its located in the Starports book, but I can't swear to that.

 

[BP]

Never played GURPS, but have looked at their books. IIRC, GURPS uses U.S. units - not metric?

(While I still sadly translate final values from metric into U.S. for personally relating to the values - I still prefer all the working units in metric myself.)

 

[rust]

Never played GURPS, but have looked at their books. IIRC, GURPS uses U.S. units - not metric?

Indeed. This makes the GURPS books more useful for people in the USA,
Liberia and Myanmar, but a pain to use for almost everyone else. :roll:

 

[BP]

I had no idea Traveller was popular in Liberia and Myanmar :lol:

(Being born and residing in the USA - I am quite fluent in the U.S.'s arcane measuring units - but I still prefer my Traveller metric!)

 

[mmbutter]

I don't know why people get all hung up on the SAE units used in GURPS.

If it says 5 yards, that's 5 meters.

If it says a vehicle will go 100 mph, that's 200 kph.

Etc.

Those numbers aren't exact, but they're close enough for gaming.

 

[rust]

Those numbers aren't exact, but they're close enough for gaming.

The main unit used for designs with GURPS is the cubic foot, which is
0,028 cubic meters - no easy conversion there.

 

[AndrewW]

Who needs to convert though? One can just use whatever measurements the system is using and stay consistent within that system.

 

[rust]

Who needs to convert though? One can just use whatever measurements the system is using and stay consistent within that system.

When I tell my players that something has a volume of 250 cubic feet,
they look at me as if I had recited a Tibetan mantra, because they do
not have the slightest idea what "250 cf" could mean - to them, a cubic
foot is probably a very ugly disfigurement.

 

[BP]

... to them, a cubic foot is probably a very ugly disfigurement.

:lol:

Suspect a great many of my fellow Americans might think the same - not really having a concept of units of volume. Furthermore, they have a slightly better chance at knowing (or at least remembering) how many meters are in a kilometer, than how many feet are in a mile.

A quick survey of the number of pounds in a ton would yield interesting answers - and several of them would be right!

 

[aspqrz]

A quick survey of the number of pounds in a ton would yield interesting answers - and several of them would be right!

Pounds of feathers or pounds of lead?

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

<I'm old enough so that I finished Primary School [what you'd call Elementary school in the US] still doing sums in Pounds/Shillings/Pence and in High School [Years 7-12] we used MKS in Science and Imperial and Metric in Maths ... so I still have to convert heights and weights to feet/inches and stone/pounds and speed limits when I'm driving to mph for it to mean anything to me ... and, interestingly, my students [I teach History, not Maths] while they think in kilometers and kilos for most things they mostly still tell you their height in feet and inches [I teach in a Girl's school, so weight doesn't often come up ]!

I've only noted in the last four or five years that there have been a few who only know their height in cm/kilos. And we converted to MKS here in Oz in the mid 70's, IIRC!!! In many, if not most, cases even their parents will have been brought up with MKS, so it is an interesting datum.>

Phil

 

[rust]

A quick survey of the number of pounds in a ton would yield interesting answers ...

A friend of mine probably broke the World Swearing Record when he re-
alized that the Brits measure silver in Troy Pounds of 373 g each, not in
Metric Pounds of 500 g, and that he had therefore paid far too much for
several "pounds" of silver.