Independent and Tramp Traders

I believe that there would have to smaller freighters to cover worlds that would be uneconomical to send a big one to. Smaller freighters would also work from a distribution hub taking smaller allotments of goods to and from worlds over a larger area faster then one large freighter could.

pnakasone wrote:I believe that there would have to smaller freighters to cover worlds that would be uneconomical to send a big one to. Smaller freighters would also work from a distribution hub taking smaller allotments of goods to and from worlds over a larger area faster then one large freighter could.

I have never seen any evidence that this is true in any of the books, have you? A million tons is about as small as the freighters go, and those are not common.

kzt wrote:I have never seen any evidence that this is true in any of the books, have you? A million tons is about as small as the freighters go, and those are not common.

Lack of evidence is not proof they do not exist either. We have only really seen a small section of the ships that are probably in use. Given the variety of sizes of cargo ships we now have I could not see that changing.

kzt wrote:

pnakasone wrote:I believe that there would have to smaller freighters to cover worlds that would be uneconomical to send a big one to. Smaller freighters would also work from a distribution hub taking smaller allotments of goods to and from worlds over a larger area faster then one large freighter could.

I have never seen any evidence that this is true in any of the books, have you? A million tons is about as small as the freighters go, and those are not common.

Probably because the running costs are surprisingly similar for freighters regardless of size. You need roughly the same equipment and crew to run a 1 mton freighter as a huge fan 10 mton one.

There are probably some smaller ships servicing out-system resource extraction nodes; where they want a certain frequency of service and there isn't enough weekly or biweekly tonnage to justify a big ship. But if you're feeling with multi-month trips then might as well use a big enough ship to make money on even low margin bulk cargo.

kzt wrote:

pnakasone wrote:I believe that there would have to smaller freighters to cover worlds that would be uneconomical to send a big one to. Smaller freighters would also work from a distribution hub taking smaller allotments of goods to and from worlds over a larger area faster then one large freighter could.

I have never seen any evidence that this is true in any of the books, have you? A million tons is about as small as the freighters go, and those are not common.

I don't think we ever got specs on the ships that specialized in the Manticore-Gryphon (or Junction-Gryphon) run, but I got the impression they were pretty small.

Take it from an ex-navy man a Tramp freighter is usually defined as a small ship that handles cargoes that no other larger outfit wants to handle, into and out of secondary and smaller ports or handles low profit cargos. There are a couple of shipping companies that there only business is hauling empty cargo containers from the U.S. to Asia or Europe.

Tramps freighters were typicaly gypsy outfits that moved around a lot and might or might not have regular runs but were always looking for work and would take that smaller load &/or secondary (or lower) port destination run. to see the classic tramp of the 20th century in film, look at the original King Kong or (more recently made) Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tired and aging steamships taking charters or cargo loads.

Some odd island in the South Pacific for which the client has a map position....and payment ....sure. Rent the crew out as armed landing party, sure, we got modern rifles (what couple of thousand local storage islanders, a really big ape and dinosaurs?)

We don't actualy have a destination (or actual cargo/reason they are going there) for the ship Indy ends up on thought he help of his friend Sallah. What we do know (shown) is that they are about to leave a port in Egypt, the Captain at least is aquainted with Sallah (we have no idea of what the cost or terms of payment are) and they have at least one large empty cargo hold where they locked up the chest containing the ARK. That ship didn't look particularly loaded (lots of freeboard, sitting fairly high in the water) so it might or might not have been taking much in the way of cargo someplace just then but might have been heading to pick up a new load having just dropped one or more shipments in Egypt. The important part was it was going SOMEWHERE that night and there was space. The It's not very villian that can whistle up a military submarine and get himself (and henchmen) both to the sub and the sub to intercept a ship which may or may not have left an "accurate" next port of call with the local authorities who probably didn't really want to know what it was in the first place. Pay your port charges, your logistics bills and the standard "gratuity" to the local boss and you are good to go.

After WW II there were a bunch of small companies that set up operations in shipping stuff, dam near anything, in ex US Liberty ships and converted (or not) LSTs (Land Ship Tank). The ships were cheap, they were essentialy military surplus. There were a number of classes of lighter freighters and transports for smaller cargos and differnt routes. Post war lots of them were also sold off. The surplus warships (actual warships, not the armed freighters like the Liberties) either went to sale to other governments or scrap. Freighters and transports could continue to do the basic service they were designed for.
Of course, durring the war, just like durring WW I, a whole lot of merchant shipping got sunk and the surplus ships were often the only hulls available and many of them were of more modern design (propulsion, fuel - you really want to stick with oil, not keep shoveling coal- than the ships which were lost or were 30 years old when WW II broke out.

We don't see smaller interstellar freighter because they have not yet been important to the story lines.

Brigade XO wrote:We don't see smaller interstellar freighter because they have not yet been important to the story lines.

Until the CS storylines brought us the Hali Sowle. It did draw a tiny bit of attention at Mesa, but even the overly conscietious customs agent ignored it in the end, suggesting the type isn't that uncommon.

Hauptman's liners show us you don't need a lot of tonnage to carry significant amounts of passengers. There's probably a whole range of passenger vessels between 50k and 1m ton, especially as regular freighters don't seem to carry many passengers.

There is probably also work for small fast freighters that can deliver critically needed items quicker then the big freighters are capable of doing. Hazardous materials or other goods requiring special handling would also be a business for smaller freighters.

pnakasone wrote:There is probably also work for small fast freighters that can deliver critically needed items quicker then the big freighters are capable of doing. Hazardous materials or other goods requiring special handling would also be a business for smaller freighters.

There is probably a niche market available for just about any idea anyone can come up with. I doubt that hazardous materials or special handling would be suitable for independent traders/tramps, though. Hazardous and Special Handling would mean more expenses for maintenance and permits and stuff;tramps and independents would have to keep such overhead to a minimum in order to make a profit.

FWIW, I think the difference between "Tramp" and "Independent" is the size of the profit margin. Adm Bakfish, for example, was an Independent, able to make enough to cover the added expense of weapons crews and kept his two ships well-maintained.

The Howle Sowle was a "Tramp" that put off routine maintenance until they had no safety margin left on the hyper-generator.