Introduction to Cargo

Cargo hauling is perhaps the easiest industrial game loop for new Star Citizen players to try out. Requiring only a ship with a cargo grid that fits the boxes you're tasked with moving, a tractor beam, and time, it's a great way for players of any experience level to make money in the 'verse!

That said, like many other game loops in Star Citizen there are a few different ways you can approach cargo hauling:

• Take contracts to pickup and deliver goods provided by the client

• Buy and sell goods that you purchase with your own aUEC - this is known as "Commodity Trading"

Unlike the other guides I've published here, it's simply impractical to list all of the different ships you can use for cargo hauling because almost every ship in the game has some kind of cargo grid! Instead, here's a short glossary of cargo-related terms you'll encounter while playing Star Citizen:

STANDARD CARGO UNITS (SCU)

• SCU - Standard Cargo Unit - this is the unit of measurement that Star Citizen uses for all of its cargo and even inventory system. All of the cargo missions will be measured in SCU. These standardized crates come in the following sizes: 1/8th SCU, or 1/2/4/8/16/24/32 SCU.

• cSCU - Centi-SCU - 1/100th of 1 SCU - select things are measured in cSCU, like salvage flow rates

• µSCU - Micro-SCU - 1/1,000,000th of 1 SCU - most of your inventory (weapons/attachments/medpens/etc.) is measured in µSCU

FREIGHT ELEVATORS

• Freight Elevator - A cargo elevator that allows you to physically retrieve, store, or deliver larger items (like SCU crates) to the location's inventory. These are found within all hangars (the hangars are instanced and only accessible to you and your party members), as well as at landing pads, within contested zones, and in other various places around the 'verse. Beware that freight elevators outside of instanced hangars are accessible to anyone are vulnerable to theft, wherein another player simply walks up to your elevator with all your cargo on it and lowers it - thus storing it in their own inventory: stealing it. Be on the lookout for other players while conducting cargo operations. Some will be nice and help you move boxes! Others will steal. Such is the joy of an MMO.

• External Freight Elevator - A freight elevator attached to a space station (including Levski in Nyx) that is in a zero-G environment, allowing you to move boxes to/from very large ships like the Hull C, which cannot land with its cargo spindles deployed, or from any other large ship that can only be accessed via a docking arm. (Nothing prevents you from using these for any ship you feel like though)

Next, I'd just like to cover the very basics for new players to get started with the introductory cargo missions. Visit the "Basics of Cargo" page to begin!

P.S. - This cargo hauling guide was written by Wolfbrother84. If you like it enough to feel like supporting the author, and haven't pledged to SC yet, sign up for SC using their referral link: robertsspaceindustries.com/enlist?referral=STAR-NCZ2-LJMN