Transport Fever 3 Cargo and Industry Production Chains

Start at the consumer, then trace its required inputs

The current release manual lists 36 cargo types and 32 industries. Find a town district or factory that accepts your product, expand its input and source lists, then connect the required producers. Matching nearby building names is not enough: the active production rule and receiving stock determine what that industry can consume.

What to do

Select the intended consumer and inspect its current cargo needs or Input Stocks. Expand the source/destination lists and use the cargo layer. Not every industry or product exists in every climate or at the beginning of a map.
Trace the inputs back to a producer with waiting output. A raw producer can supply without input cargo, while a processing factory needs its production inputs. Check all required inputs instead of feeding one product indefinitely.
Choose compatible vehicles and loading facilities. The four handling classes are Liquid, Bulk, Flatbed and Goods. Plan storage for any line-to-line transfer; stations alone do not store the next leg's cargo.
Run a limited service and inspect the consumer's input and production counters. Watch output pickup too. A full input stock means delivery is outrunning consumption; a full output stock points to pickup or downstream demand.
Add workers or an applicable booster only after the basic chain works. The manual lists Fertilizer, Machines and Tools as raw-industry boosters. The specific industry panel determines the applicable cargo; they are not interchangeable.

WATCH THIS SYSTEM

Industries & Cargo

Origins, cargo categories, loading infrastructure and transfers.

Watch on YouTube ↗

Official pre-release overview. Use the written checks for this task; older videos may describe plans that later changed.

Starter links to inspect on your map

Examples in the official cargo list include Stone from Quarry to Cement Plant; Logs from Logging Camp to Saw Mill; Grain from Farm to Livestock Farm; and Fish from Fishing Grounds to a requesting commercial district or Food Factory. These are supply links, not complete multi-input recipes. Paper Mill and Printing Press are Subarctic-only; find their other inputs before promising a books route.

How to tell it worked

The intended input arrives, the industry consumes it according to its rule, output is produced and a downstream customer receives it. For direct town deliveries, the correct district accepts the product. Emptying a vehicle by discarding excess is not chain completion.

If you are still stuck

Missing industry: inspect climate, current demand and industry-spawn conditions. Inputs present but low throughput: check other inputs, workers and room for raw-industry plots. Cargo stays aboard at a full receiver: reduce feed and follow the oversupply task. Use the source table for a specific product rather than a TF2 recipe.