Euro Truck Simulator 2 – Weight limits for HGVs [new in 1.32]

This is a simple overview over all the total weight limits in different countries as provided in the def files since 1.32 public beta.

This might be interesting if you plan to;

• Buy your own truck and / or trailer to max out your total weight
• Max out the amount of cargo you want to transport to maximize your income

Introduction

In version 1.32 SCS introduced trailer ownership. This means that you can buy your own trailers. However, there are some limits in the real world which also were implemented in ETS2. These kinds of limits are weight limits and they are important!

There are two important values for the space you have for cargo

• meters of space on your trailer (in logistics often also known as loading meters)
• payload (mass)

The meteres of space often correspond with the payload mass. The more meters you have, the more pallets and the more mass you have to load.
If you are interested in this you can read more in the last chapter of this guide

However, SCS added a small filter function into the game which only shows suitable cargoes for your truck and, if available, your own, currently being hauled, trailer.
This way you only get the cargoes you can transport without violating any laws such as weight limits or more Volume / Meters on your trailer than there is available.

This guide will only give you a small overview over all the weight limits in the game.
Anyway, I will add a small suggestion for good combinations to get a big payloads – also meaning more income from your job.

Austria

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 44 000 kg

Belgium

• 2 – 19 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 39 000 kg
• >5 – 44 000 kg

Czech Republic

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 48 000 kg

Denmark (Scandinavian DLC)

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 38 000 kg
• 5 – 42 000 kg
• 6 – 50 000 kg
• >7 – 56 000 kg

France

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• 5 – 44 000 kg

Germany

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 40 000 kg

Hungary (Going East DLC)

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 25 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 40 000 kg 44 000 kg for 40 ft containers

Italy

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 40 000 kg
• >5 – 44 000 kg

Luxembourg

• 2 – 19 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• >4 – 44 000 kg

Netherlands

• 2 – 21 500 kg
• 3 – 30 500 kg depends on vehicle. Ranges form 21 500 kg up to 30 500 kg
• 4 – 40 000 kg
• >5 – 50 000 kg

Norway (Scandinavian DLC)

• 2 – 19 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 39 000 kg
• 5 – 47 000 kg 46 000 kg if tractor unit has 3 axles and trailer has 2 axles
• >6 – 50 000 kg

Poland

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 40 000 kg

Slovakia

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 40 000 kg

Sweden (Scandinavian DLC)

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 38 000 kg
• 5 – 46 000 kg
• 6 – 64 000 kg this data might be wrong
• >7 – 64 000 kg

Switzerland

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 36 000 kg
• >5 – 40 000 kg

United Kingdom

• 2 – 18 000 kg
• 3 – 26 000 kg
• 4 – 38 000 kg
• 5 – 40 000 kg
• >6 – 44 000 kg

Combination Recommendation(s)

Brief Explanation
The combination with the highest payload is the 7+ axle combination in Sweden. However, this is a country only limitation and therefore very uncommon for inernational transports.

Most trucks in Europe are 2+3 or 3+3 combinations.
And these are also the best combination you can use ingame.

As you can see in the tables above, you can see that most countries have a maximum weight limiation for combinations with 5 or more axles at the same mass. So adding more axles does not mean more maximum weight.

However, there is still some difference between 2+3 and 3+3 combinations. This is more of a personal preference, but with a 3+3 you can aso haul more cargo in some countries, compared to a 2+3.

I personally recommend using a 3+3 when you are driving a lot in the UK or in Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden) as you only have a bonus on the maximum allowed weight there.

Stuff to look out for
Adding more axles to your trucks chassis will also increase it’s tare weight. Meaning you won’t have the full “bonus” if you want to add more axles.

The same also applies to trailers. More axles mean more tare weight, but also more payload.

Combinations with 7 or 8 or even more axles may not make any sense, because you will have a very high tare weight which will reduce your payload.

Other important stuff
Apprently the configuration of the axles doesn’t really matter in terms of placement.
It doesn’t matter if you have a 3 axle spread or a 3 “normal” axle trailer, they all offer you the same maximum weight that is allowed on the roads

Exceptions
These limitations may not apply to cargoes with in the Heavy cargo and Special Transport DLCs.

Haven’t tried it yet, but it seems pretty weird and unlikely to have an “illegal” combination within a Heavy or special transport. E.g. if you are hauling a 61 ton G6 Locomotive.

At least for now. This might change in the future.

Summary
Find a good balance. Adding more axles will only help for up to 6, maybe 7 axles. If it is above, it doesn’t make much sense to add axles, unless you have some specific use cases.

Trivia

Disclaimer
I do not guarantee for the correctness of any content provided in this “Trivia” Section.
Any content here might be 100% false.
I only want to give everyone a short overview over some interesting topics around cargo and trailer limitations.
Please refer to the classic teaching and handbooks for the full (technical) correctness.

Meters as a unit of space
Meters, also known as “loading meters”, describe how much space there is on a trailer. Or any other unit that can hold cargo.

One standard loading meter equals 1 meter in length by 2.4 metric meters of width.

One Euro-Pallet, one of the most common packages used for cargo in Europe, is 1.20 metric meters by 0.80 metric meters in size.
By calculating the space of the footprint of a pallet and dividing it by the dafault width of a trailer (2.4 metric meters) you get 0.4 LM

A normal Semi-Trailer has a length of around 13,75 meters on the outside. Subtracting walls and other stuff, you will get a little bit less.
So basicly, if you are loading a trailer, you can calculate how much space you have or need for your load.

Let’s say we want to know how many pallets we can fit on a normal semi trailer.
So we take 13.75 metric meters and divide it by 0.4 meters. This product of this multiplication is a little bit bigger than 34.
So you can basicly fit 34 pallets on your normal semi-trailer. (Don’t forget to subtract walls and other limitations)

But you don’t always have a calculator with you, so lets do some easier math.
1 Pallet = 0.4 LM
2 Pallets = 0.8 LM
5 Pallets = 2 LM

And this is where it gets interesting.
As you can see 5 Pallets will take 2 meters of length on your trailer.
So if we round 13.75 metric meters up to 14 metric meters, we can easily divide the length by 2 (LM) and multiply it with 5 (pallets). This way we get the following equation:

14 m of length for cargo on your trailer = 14 LM
14 LM / (2 LM / 5 Pallets) = (14 LM * 5 Pallets) / 2 LM = 70 LM Pallets / 2 LM = 35 Pallets.

So, you can see, even with rounding up (and down) you can still get a good approximate calculation of space that you need on your trailer for your cargo when selecting it or when being told to pick it up.
And you can always check if someone did something wrong or if you forgot to unload a job before you came to the company you are at for picking up a new load.

Side Note:
This might get important if we get mutlidrop cargoes *

* Warning: This is a personal opinion.