39.8 Tonnes and Still Illegal? What ETS2 Does Not Simulate About Truck Weights!

39.8 tonnes of gross weight. Everything is legal, right? Not necessarily. This is where the difference begins between a number in the job menu and a road train inspected on real German roads. The common calculation of “under 40 tonnes is permitted, over 40 tonnes is overloaded” is memorable – but incomplete.

Under Section 34 of the German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations, permitted gross weight and permitted axle loads must be observed at the same time. For vehicles with pneumatic tyres, the rule gives a general maximum of 10.00 tonnes for a single axle and 11.50 tonnes for a driven single axle. Depending on axle spacing and technical equipment, double axles on motor vehicles may, for example, be permitted to carry 16, 18 or, under stricter conditions, 19 tonnes. Legal figures for trailer double axles range from 11 to 20 tonnes depending on spacing, while triple axles are listed at 21 or 24 tonnes. The specific technical limit of an individual vehicle may still be lower.

For vehicle combinations with more than four axles, German law generally sets a permitted gross weight of 40 tonnes. Yet even this famous number has exceptions. Precisely defined articulated combinations carrying containers or swap bodies of up to 45 feet in intermodal transport may reach 42 or 44 tonnes. Under the legal conditions, alternatively powered combinations may receive up to one tonne of additional weight because of the drivetrain technology and zero-emission combinations up to two tonnes – while still observing the axle-load limits. The famous 40 tonnes is therefore closer to a headline than the complete rule.

For our virtual trip, imagine a heavy machine block. The entire combination remains at 39 tonnes and may therefore be below the limit for its configuration. If the block is positioned poorly, however, too much of the load can rest on one axle or axle group. Placing it farther back tends to increase the load on the trailer axles; farther forward transfers more weight through the fifth wheel to the tractor. The exact limit depends on axle count, spacing, vehicle data and technology. Attaching invented axle figures to this thought experiment would therefore be misleading. The crucial point works without them: a legal gross weight does not make an overloaded axle legal.

There is another confusion that ETS2 makes very easy. The weight shown for a job is the cargo weight, not automatically the gross weight of the entire combination. When a job says “25 t”, the whole truck does not weigh 25 tonnes. The tractor’s and trailer’s unladen masses, fuel, operating fluids, equipment and other carried masses must be added to the cargo. Only together do they produce the actual vehicle or combination weight.

SCS’s game data makes this distinction clearer than the interface may suggest. The Job Details Widget released with version 1.60 explicitly displays the cargo type and weight. The official modding documentation separately defines masses for the trailer chassis and body, axle count, a gross trailer weight limit and the distribution of cargo mass within trailer chains. Country data can also cap gross vehicle weight according to the total number of axles. That is more than decoration – but it is not yet an inspection of individual axles under German law.

Lift axles are not merely an animation either. SCS introduced them for tractors and trailers; according to the official description, they change weight distribution and manoeuvrability and affect decisions about fuel use and tyre wear. The game’s technical data knows axle weights, suspension travel, force transfer and cargo centre-of-gravity positions. ETS2 therefore calculates forces at the axles. What the game does not turn this into is a continuous legal system that compares our specific front axle, drive axle group and trailer axle group with the relevant national limits.

Saying “ETS2 has no scales” would now be wrong as well. Such facilities appear selectively in Road to the Black Sea, Austria, the reworked Switzerland, parts of the Baltic region and at West Balkan borders. Depending on the facility, we may be called in for weighing and fined for driving past. This is not a Europe-wide inspection network with German axle-load enforcement, however. The scale does not produce a load-distribution analysis, we cannot move the machine block inside the trailer afterwards, and an unfavourable real-world axle load does not stop our trip. Border checks or X-ray stations may inspect cargo in some ETS2 regions, but they are not automatically weight inspections.

In Germany, a check can become much more concrete. The Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility may stop and inspect goods vehicles. In the A4 pilot project launched in 2025, conspicuous trucks are preselected by upstream axle-load measuring points, directed to an inspection area and then weighed in a legally reliable manner. If overloading is established, onward travel can be prohibited until the problem has been rectified. A click on “continue” is not enough: the cargo may have to be redistributed or partly transferred to another vehicle.

The current German Fines Catalogue Regulation grades the standard fines by the percentage by which the permitted axle load or gross weight is exceeded. For putting into operation a motor vehicle over 7.5 tonnes, or a motor vehicle with a trailer over two tonnes, the standard rates are €30 for 2 to 5 per cent, €80 for more than 5, €110 for more than 10, €140 for more than 15, €190 for more than 20, €285 for more than 25 and €380 for more than 30 per cent.

Even more interesting for our ETS2 company boss: the person behind the wheel is not the only relevant party. The same official catalogue gives separate standard rates for ordering or permitting the vehicle to be put into operation: €35 for 2 to 5 per cent, €140 for more than 5, €235 for more than 10, €285 for more than 15, €380 for more than 20 and €425 for more than 25 per cent. Legally, this concerns the vehicle keeper or responsible person – not automatically any random company employee. The comparison still fits remarkably well: in ETS2, we are often the driver, dispatcher and haulage boss at the same time. A more realistic simulation would therefore have to affect not only our driver account but also the virtual company.

There is a physical dimension too. Overloading and poor load distribution place greater stress on tyres, axles, suspension and chassis, alter vehicle handling and can reduce the reserves of the braking system. The size of the effect cannot be answered with a simple formula such as “10 per cent more weight means 10 per cent more braking distance”. The vehicle, braking system, tyres, cargo, centre of gravity, road surface and weather all interact. The fact that overloading affects road safety and infrastructure is precisely why BALM targets such vehicles for inspection.

This is also where Heavy Cargo and Special Transport must be separated from normal overloading. ETS2 deliberately turns very heavy cargo into desirable challenges. Special Transport jobs include fixed routes, escort vehicles, traffic management and strict instructions. That is not the same as an ordinary trip loaded incorrectly. A real heavy transport can be legal with suitable vehicles, axle combinations, permits, route planning and escort. “Heavy” does not automatically mean “overloaded”.

It would become fascinating if ETS2 turned these existing building blocks into an optional system. During loading, we could see not only “Cargo Weight” but a graphic for the front axle, drive axle or axle group, trailer axles and gross weight. We could move the machine block slightly forward or backward. A shipper’s scale could warn us before departure. Anyone ignoring the warning might risk a fine, a company penalty, reloading, increased wear, a lower customer rating or even cancellation of the contract at a random roadside check.

This is explicitly a thought experiment, not an announced SCS feature. For casual players, such a system could quickly feel like bureaucracy rather than a relaxing drive after work. As an optional hardcore mode, however, it could finally turn trailer selection, lift axles, loading and weighing stations into one connected logistics task. “Transport 25 tonnes of machinery” would become genuine transport planning. Should ETS2 eventually simulate individual axle loads – or do you simply want to set off after loading without also dealing with weight distribution?

Should ETS2 legally check individual axle loads, or is gross weight enough for you? Would you enable an optional hardcore mode for loading and weight inspections? Should we be able to move heavy cargo forward or backward inside the trailer ourselves?