Satisfactory Truck Automation 1.2: Vehicle Paths Setup

Quick answer: Since Update 1.2, you automate a vehicle by placing a Vehicle Path (Transport tab, build gun) between stations instead of recording a route by driving — build the path, build or connect a Truck Station on it, open the parked vehicle's menu to pick which stations it should service, then flip on Autopilot. Paths are one-way, so a round trip needs two of them, one each direction.

• free costs nothing
• cheap small cost
• setup needs preparation
• grind pays off slowly
• skip the thing to stop doing

Vehicles at a glance

*Truck Stations still load fuel into a Factory Cart's hatch out of habit, but it provides no benefit and the cart burns through it without the fuel slot being accessible — it's a cosmetic leftover, not something to plan around.

How to set up a Vehicle Path, step by step

1. Build a Vehicle Path from the Transport tab setupFive separate tools exist: Universal (any vehicle except Factory Cart), Tractor, Truck (covers Fluid Truck too), Explorer, and Factory Cart Path — pick the one matching your vehicle, or Universal if you're not sure yet.
2. Connect the path to a Truck Station at each end freeA path has to physically touch a station for that station to be usable at all — snap the path onto an already-built station, or build the station on an existing path.
3. Build the return path too — every path is one-way freeAnimated arrows along the path show its direction. A full delivery loop needs two separate path runs, exactly like a two-way train line needs two tracks.
4. Open the vehicle's menu, select stations, enable Autopilot setupPark the vehicle on the path, choose which stations along it to service, and switch on Autopilot. It can't be manually driven while Autopilot is engaged, though you can ride along and watch.

Truck path not working? Troubleshooting checklist

1. Is the path actually touching the Truck Station? freeA path has to physically connect to a station for that station to be usable at all — a path that passes near a station without snapping to it does nothing.
2. Has the vehicle actually selected that station in its own list? freeBeing parked nearby isn't enough — open the vehicle's menu and confirm the station is checked in its service list.
3. Is this a leftover "legacy" path from before 1.2? grindPre-1.2 recorded routes auto-convert into uneditable purple paths with a flashing question-mark icon. The wiki's own advice: delete these and rebuild as a proper Vehicle Path rather than trying to fix one in place — the vehicle physics changed with the Unreal Engine 5.6.1 upgrade behind Update 1.2, and an old converted path can behave unpredictably.
4. Is the station powered and set to the right mode? setupAn unpowered Truck Station does nothing at all — cargo just backs up on the belt behind it. Each station is set to either loading or unloading, never both; check it's set to the one you intended.
5. Is a cramped intersection stalling the route? cheapWhere paths cross, a vehicle waiting its turn brakes well back from a busy intersection. Keep crossing sections short — several paths crossing close together in a tight junction is the single most common place a route quietly stalls.

Truck Stations still work the same way they always have

A Truck Station has two functional sides: the front, where the vehicle actually parks and loads or unloads, and the back, which takes conveyor belt inputs for cargo and fuel. Each station is set to either loading or unloading, never both, and it does nothing at all until it's powered — an unpowered station just sits there with cargo backing up on the belt behind it.

A loading station typically needs two belt connections: one for the cargo item itself and one for fuel, so an idle vehicle refuels automatically the moment it parks. An unloading station only needs the cargo output belt.

Every vehicle — Truck, Fluid Truck, Tractor, Explorer, Factory Cart — has its own cargo and fuel hatch, opened by walking up to it and interacting. Fuel can be topped up by hand or filled automatically by parking at a fueled station, and cargo can likewise be loaded or unloaded manually, which is handy for testing before committing to full automation.

What changed in 1.2: Vehicle Paths replaced recorded routes

Before Update 1.2, automating a vehicle meant physically driving it once while the game recorded your inputs as a macro, then saving that recording as a named path. That workflow is gone. Vehicle Paths are instead a placeable network built from the Transport tab, constructed the same way a Railway is — you place path segments end to end rather than driving anything, in a freeform Default mode that follows terrain with gentle curves, or a Straight mode for exact lines and 90° corners. Every path is one-way, shown by animated arrows along its length.

A Vehicle Path is permanent infrastructure the moment you finish placing it, the same as a belt or a foundation — there's nothing to name or save at creation time, because there's no recording step at all anymore.

Explorer vs Truck vs Factory Cart — pick the path to match the vehicle

The Explorer is built for a driver, not automation — it's fast and nimble but exists mainly for manual scouting, and while an Explorer Path exists, most players get more value automating Trucks or Tractors for bulk deliveries and driving the Explorer themselves. The Factory Cart is the odd one out: it's a small, cheap automation vehicle unlocked through the AWESOME Shop, it needs its own dedicated Factory Cart Path (it cannot use a Universal Path), and it's meant for short, low-volume runs inside a single factory rather than long cross-map hauls. A Truck or Fluid Truck on a Universal or Truck Path is the general-purpose choice for cross-map logistics once a factory has outgrown hand-carrying items between machines.

Truck vs train: when automation stops being the right tool

Truck automation is the cheapest form of bulk transport to set up — no rail, no signals, no dedicated power substation for the route itself. But a Truck Station's throughput is capped by how often a single vehicle can complete its loop, so a route with a long travel distance or a high per-minute cargo demand eventually needs either several trucks running the same path or a switch to trains, which move far more cargo per trip once the up-front rail cost is worth paying. Trucks are the right call early and for shorter, lower-volume routes; trains take over once a delivery is too big or too far for a handful of vehicles to keep up with. See our train guide for that upgrade path, or our drone guide if the route needs to skip terrain entirely.

Build the road, don't fight the terrain

Vehicle speed on a path is physics-based, not fixed: a flat, straight, well-built path lets a vehicle run at its top speed, while inclines, declines, and sharp curves all slow it down, and rough natural terrain forces tighter turns than a deliberately built road would. Cosmetic road skins (including asphalt) are available from the AWESOME Shop if a paved look matters, but they're purely visual and don't change the physics.

A vehicle built with too little clearance around it tends to get stuck trying to turn — give intersections and tight corners more room than feels necessary, especially anywhere a factory building sits close to the road.

FAQ

How do I automate a truck in Satisfactory 1.2? Build a Vehicle Path (Transport tab) connecting a loading station to an unloading station, build the return path since paths are one-way, then open the vehicle's menu, select the stations it should service, and enable Autopilot.

Why isn't my truck path working? Check, in order: the path actually touches the Truck Station, the vehicle has that station selected in its own menu (not just parked nearby), the path isn't a leftover purple "legacy" path from before 1.2 (delete and rebuild those), the station is powered and set to the right loading/unloading mode, and intersections aren't too cramped.

What happened to recorded truck routes in Satisfactory? Update 1.2 removed the drive-to-record workflow entirely. Any route recorded before 1.2 auto-converts into an uneditable purple "legacy" path with a flashing question-mark icon — the wiki recommends deleting these and rebuilding as a proper Vehicle Path instead of trying to fix one in place.

Can a Factory Cart use a Universal Path? No. The Factory Cart needs its own dedicated Factory Cart Path and cannot use the Universal Path that every other vehicle shares.

Should I automate a Truck or build a train instead? Start with a Truck — it needs no rail, signals or dedicated substation. Switch to a train once a route's distance or per-minute cargo demand outgrows what a few trucks running the same loop can keep up with.

Sources

The Truck Station's front/back layout, the loading-vs-unloading toggle, the power requirement, and the manual cargo/fuel hatch all carried over unchanged from before Update 1.2. The Vehicle Paths system itself — five path types (Universal, Tractor, Truck, Explorer, Factory Cart) and their vehicle restrictions, one-way paths, and pre-1.2 routes auto-converting into uneditable purple "legacy" paths — is confirmed against the official Satisfactory 1.2.2.2 patch notes and the current Satisfactory Wiki's Truck Station and vehicle pages. Vehicle cargo capacity, fuel burn rate, max speed and unlock tier for the Tractor, Truck, Explorer and Factory Cart are all wiki-confirmed current figures. The physics-based speed behavior (straight and flat is fastest; curves, grades, and intersections slow a vehicle down) and the Factory Cart's dedicated path requirement are also wiki-confirmed.

Read next

• Satisfactory Train Guide — truck automation's upgrade path in 1.2
• Satisfactory Drone Transport & Logistics Network Guide — Vehicle Paths vs skipping terrain entirely
• Satisfactory Circuit Boards & High-Speed Connectors Guide — hauling ore by truck for this chain