Transport Fever 3 Cargo Not Unloading: 6 Causes and Fixes

By Tobias Lindqvist · Updated October 1, 2026

The rule behind every unloading problem

Transport Fever 3 changed how cargo moves. In the second developer blog, Urban Games explained that cargo no longer has a fixed destination when it is produced, and that stations no longer store goods. Developer UG-Sam put it plainly on the Steam forums: ports, stations and other infrastructure do not store any cargo now, and a vehicle can only unload if the cargo has somewhere to go.

The official manual lists three valid destinations. A vehicle unloads automatically at a stop when one of these sits within that stop’s catchment area:

1. An industry that consumes the cargo, such as logs arriving at a saw mill.
2. A town district that demands it, either commercial or industrial.
3. A warehouse module set to store that cargo type.

If none of the three is in range, the vehicle keeps its load and drives back. Almost every “cargo not unloading” report on the Steam forums comes down to one of the causes below.

Quick diagnosis table

Cause 1: no warehouse at a port

This is the most common report at launch. On October 1, two of the five most-replied threads on the first three pages of the Steam forum were about it (“Why cant I unload fish?” and “One bug fish”). In TF3, a port is only a place to load and unload; it no longer holds cargo itself.

The fix is to place a warehouse near your port. The manual says warehouses do not need road access. Cargo moves between a warehouse and a vehicle as soon as the warehouse is inside the station’s catchment radius. From there, a second line (trucks, trains or trams) picks the fish up and takes it to a town or a food factory. UG-Sam admitted on the forum that he also assumed ports were broken the first time he played.

Note that towns and factories cannot reach into a warehouse on their own. The manual is clear that you must haul cargo in and out yourself. Our warehouses guide covers module types and layouts.

Cause 2: the tutorial fish route

Several players got stuck at the tutorial step that sets up a fish ship. UG-Sam listed two checks in the “One bug fish” thread:

• Make sure the ship can carry fish. Click the fish icon at the top of the vehicle purchase panel. Depending on the start year, the top of the list may only show passenger boats.
• Fix the line’s cargo settings. Fish should be ticked at the fishing grounds stop and unticked at the port. If passengers or tools are also ticked, clear them.

He added that changes to the tutorial have already been suggested, so this step may get clearer in a patch.

Cause 3: the town’s demand is already full

When a truck reaches a town and leaves with its cargo, UG-Sam’s answer was that this is not a bug: the demand has been fulfilled. You have two choices:

• Lower the delivery rate so supply matches what the town uses. Fewer vehicles, or a lower load percentage, both work.
• Turn on force unload for the line at the destination. Leftover cargo is dropped off and the truck returns empty, but you are not paid for the extra.

To check whether a district is saturated, click the commercial or industrial buildings you supply. The manual says each building shows its supply rate as the percentage of its cargo needs currently met. Towns also start small: one commercial and one industrial demand at first, with a second commercial demand at level 5, a second industrial at level 7, and third demands at levels 9 and 11. See our towns page for growth details.

Trucks do not need a full cargo station in town. The vehicles page of the manual notes that bus and tram stops can also be used to unload cargo, though roadside stops load cargo slower than full stations.

Cause 4: the cargo filter on your line

Each stop on a line has its own cargo filter: which cargo types to load, and to what percentage of capacity. Unloading is automatic wherever there is a destination, but loading only happens where you tick the cargo. For a transfer chain (for example truck to warehouse to train), the train’s line must have that cargo ticked at the warehouse stop.

Two related tips from the Flowengineer “50+ tips” video, which are a player’s advice rather than official text:

• Avoid using one stop to both drop off a raw material and pick up the product made from it. He says this can lock the line up; split them across stops.
• To unload only part of a load, set a load percentage at the pickup stop instead.

The lines and timetables guide explains departure settings like Full load (any) and Full load (all).

Cause 5: specialized warehouse modules

The manual explains that specialized warehouses (Liquid, Bulk, Flatbed or Goods) store only one cargo type per module. Storing crude oil and fuel together needs two Liquid modules, even though both are liquids. A universal warehouse accepts a mix but loses the speed bonus and the frozen delivery timer that specialized modules give. You can pick each module’s cargo type in the warehouse’s Stocks section by clicking the cargo icons.

Cause 6: out of catchment

Cargo only needs to be inside a station’s catchment radius, not connected by road. When you place or select a station, buildings, industries and warehouses in range are colored, and blue means cargo can transfer. If your destination is not highlighted, move the stop or add a station closer to it. Check our cargo list to confirm which industry or district actually uses each good.

Still stuck?

If none of this helps, check the industry window. The manual says that when nothing picks up an industry’s output and its stock fills up, production continues but the extra cargo is destroyed. Our industries page lists every production chain so you can confirm the cargo has a real consumer.