Hauling Tips & Tricks: Time-Saving Techniques

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Supercruise Assist Trick

The “Supercruise Assist Trick” can significantly reduce travel time to stations:

  1. Approach an orbital station with Supercruise Assist equipped
  2. Keep your reticle off target but follow the typical 6-second rule (reducing to 75% at 6s ETA)
  3. When you get to about 4-5 LS distance, point towards the station while throttling up to 100% and let it lock on
  4. It will appear like you’ll slingshot around, but the Supercruise Assist will pull you out just in time, shaving approximately 10 seconds from your trip

The distance at which you can perform this trick depends on the station’s drop point:

  • For a 1.00/1.00 drop (check the blue speed/distance markers in the lower left), push from 5 LS or less
  • For stations with higher values (3.00/3.00 or 5.00/5.00), you can initiate this maneuver from 10-20 LS away
  • A general rule: 1/1 drop means push at 0.04 seconds on the timer at 5 LS or less; 3/3 drop or higher means push at 0.04 seconds from 10-20 LS

With practice, this technique will drop you out perfectly like, most of the time, though it may occasionally fail with stations in very close orbit.

Heatsink Efficiency

Heatsinks can be invaluable for rapid multi-jump hauling:

  • Use heatsinks while fuel scooping to simultaneously spool up your Frame Shift Drive
  • This technique can save precious minutes when making 15+ jumps
  • Particularly useful with the Frame Shift Drive SCO (Supercruise Overcharge) when traveling long distances within a system
  • When hauling valuable cargo, heatsinks can prevent heat damage during aggressive fuel scooping and jumping

Note that while heatsinks help with heat management, they won’t mitigate the “rocking” effect experienced during SCO travel—you’ll still need to “hang on for dear life”!

The “Ship Swap” Loading Technique

For situations where you’re loading from surface stations or stations with challenging approaches, here’s a time-saving technique that can cut your loading trips in half:

  1. Setup:

    • Position your fleet carrier as close as possible to the loading station
    • Have two large hauling ships (Type-9s or Imperial Cutters) on your carrier
    • Fly ship #1 to the station (this is your only outbound trip)
    • Transfer ship #2 to the station’s shipyard

  2. The Loading Loop:

    • Load cargo into your current ship
    • Fly back to your carrier and unload
    • Disembark and locate the escape pods
    • Use the escape pod to “abandon ship” (you’ll respawn at the station)
    • At the station’s shipyard, switch to your other ship
    • Repeat the process, alternating between ships

Important Notes:

  • This technique works best when your carrier is very close to the station
  • The ship transfer time must be shorter than the time it takes to complete one cycle (flying, unloading, reaching escape pods)
  • Most effective for surface stations or stations with difficult approaches
  • Less beneficial for standard space stations due to the time spent on foot
  • Double-check you’ve loaded cargo before departing (it’s easy to forget!)

This method is particularly valuable during colonisation efforts where you’re making repeated trips from surface stations, as it eliminates the time-consuming landing phase of each outbound journey.