Since its release in 2016, American Truck Simulator has been all about hauling cargo across an ever-growing map of the United States. Players take delivery jobs, grow their companies, and enjoy the slow, relaxing rhythm of long-distance trucking. Over the years, SCS Software has expanded the game with new states, better visuals, improved physics, and more detailed industries. Now, however, the studio is preparing one of the biggest shifts in the game’s history: Road Trip, a new gameplay module that lets players leave their trucks behind and explore the open road in passenger vehicles.

Road Trip will launch through manufacturer-themed vehicle packs, starting with the Ford Car Pack and followed by the RAM & Dodge Car Pack and likely more in the future. This is not just a cosmetic add-on. It introduces a new way to experience ATS, with personal vehicles, small package deliveries, free exploration, and postcard collection tied to iconic locations. In this article, we look at what the Road Trip module includes, the first Ford vehicles confirmed for it, how mods have already prepared the ground for this idea, and what all of this may mean for the future of the series.

The Ford Car Pack: iconic vehicles and a shift in gameplay

2023 Ford F-150 Lariat

The Ford Car Pack will debut four vehicles. One of the main stars is the 2023 Ford F-150 Lariat, a modern version of America’s best-selling pickup. The F-150 has been a huge part of American road culture for decades, and it makes perfect sense as one of the first vehicles in Road Trip. SCS says the in-game version is being built with close attention to its recognizable design, interior details, and factory-inspired paint options such as Agate Black Metallic, Iconic Silver Metallic, and Atlas Blue Metallic.

Because development is still ongoing, the studio has also said it is still deciding which engine configurations will best represent the truck in-game. Even that small detail shows how seriously SCS is treating these vehicles. They are not just background props, but an important part of a new gameplay direction.

2006+ Ford Crown Victoria

Another standout in the Ford pack is the Ford Crown Victoria. This full-size sedan, built on Ford’s rear-wheel-drive Panther platform, became a symbol of durability and practicality. For many players, it is one of the most recognizable American cars ever made. It was famous as a police interceptor, city taxi, and fleet vehicle, and its shape became deeply familiar through movies, television, and everyday traffic.

SCS is putting a strong focus on authenticity here as well. During development, the team reached out to the community to find owners of featured vehicles so they could gather real-world reference materials and record authentic sounds. One community member, Marcel from Germany, offered his own ex-supervisor Ford Crown Victoria P71 Police Interceptor for inspection. That gave the team access to many of the details that helped define the model’s identity.

Thanks to that cooperation, SCS was also able to record the unique engine and vehicle sounds of the Crown Victoria, which should help the car feel more believable in-game. It is a good example of how community support can directly improve official content. SCS has already hinted that modders will probably have a lot of fun turning this vehicle into police cars, taxis, and other familiar variants once it arrives.

1967 Ford Mustang Fastback

SCS has now also shared a much closer look at the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, and it may end up being one of the most exciting cars in the entire Ford Car Pack. Few vehicles represent classic American motoring better than the Mustang, and the 1967 Fastback is one of the most iconic versions ever built. With its longer body, wider stance, and more aggressive styling, it marked an important evolution for the model and helped establish the Mustang as a true performance machine.

For Road Trip, SCS says it has worked hard to capture the car’s period accuracy and heritage. The team is recreating not only its unmistakable fastback silhouette, but also the smaller details that give the vehicle its classic identity. The car is clearly meant to feel like more than just “an old sports car” dropped into ATS. It is being treated as a piece of automotive history.

Players will be able to choose from a wide range of factory-inspired exterior colours, including Lime Gold, Acapulco Blue, Dark Moss Green, Silver Frost, Burgundy, Candy Apple Red, and more. On the inside, SCS is also preparing several authentic interior trims such as Black, Red, Saddle, Parchment, Ivy Gold, and Dark & Light Aqua. These will be paired with classic seating options like luxury bucket seats or ComfortWeave insert seats, all within a Deluxe interior variant featuring brushed aluminium accents.

SCS has noted that the 1967 Ford Mustang GT Fastback is still a work in progress, so both the exterior and interior are still being refined. Even so, what has been shown so far already suggests that this could become one of the most memorable vehicles in the Road Trip lineup.

SCS also shared some behind-the-scenes details on how the Mustang is being developed. The studio thanked Ford for helping source a classic Mustang during a visit to the United States, while Toman Motors s.r.o. provided access to a real Mustang so the developers could gather detailed reference materials. The team also recorded authentic engine sounds with help from Veteráni na Truc. That kind of real-world access matters a lot for a vehicle like this, because sound, proportions, and interior details are a big part of what makes a classic car feel believable.

Other Ford vehicles

Alongside the F-150, Crown Victoria, and Mustang Fastback, the Ford Car Pack also includes the 2023 Ford Bronco. This gives the pack a very broad mix of vehicle types: a pickup truck, a full-size sedan, a classic muscle car, and a modern off-road SUV. That variety is important because it shows that Road Trip is not being built around just one kind of car. Instead, SCS seems to be aiming for a flexible system where different vehicles suit different moods and styles of play.

According to the Steam product description, these vehicles will allow players to deliver small packages, drive freely across the map, and collect postcards by visiting notable places. In other words, these cars are not just for looking at. They are tied to brand-new gameplay loops that expand ATS beyond freight hauling.

How Road Trip unlocks

SCS has also clarified how access to Road Trip will work. According to the RAM & Dodge Car Pack announcement, owning any Road Trip vehicle pack will unlock the Road Trip gameplay module itself. That means players who buy the Ford Car Pack will not just receive Ford vehicles; they will also gain access to the module and its core features. Future vehicle packs appear to be designed as expansions to the same system, rather than separate paid unlocks for the gameplay.

Mods: community creativity and realism enhancements

Car mods broaden the vehicle roster

Long before SCS officially introduced the Road Trip module, the modding community had already been pushing American Truck Simulator in this direction. Over the years, this site has built a dedicated Cars category featuring thousands of drivable car mods, from luxury sedans and sports cars to American pickups inspired by real-world models. These mods let players experience ATS from a very different angle and showed that there was strong demand for passenger vehicles long before SCS made it official.

Many of these car mods offer detailed interiors, custom sounds, tuned engines, and adjusted handling physics. Some even support manual gearboxes or alternative shifting behavior. Of course, quality varies from mod to mod, but the popularity of these downloads says a lot. The Road Trip module may be official content, but the idea behind it has been tested by the community for years.

US Car Culture mod: realistic traffic and regional diversity

Many mods focus not on drivable cars, but on making traffic feel more realistic. One of the best examples is US Car Culture, a free mod available on the SCS forum. The mod changes AI vehicle spawn rates so that traffic better reflects real-world regional car preferences. In the base game, many vehicle types appear in balanced numbers across the entire map, but in real life some brands and body styles are much more common in certain states than others. This mod tries to mirror that.

It also includes optional upgrades beyond spawn logic. The Vehicle Specs Improvement component adjusts engine outputs, weights, and other values using real-world information. The Color Expansion adds factory-style paint choices, especially for older vehicles. There is also a License Plate Expansion that gives traffic more believable plate designs across all US states, including specialty and veteran variants. Together, these changes create a road environment that feels more local, varied, and believable.

How SCS updates shape the future of the series

Route 66 rework in update 1.58

The 1.58 update, released in February 2026, shows that SCS is not only focused on new DLC, but also on rebuilding older parts of the map. One of the biggest additions is the Route 66 Rework Project, which covers northern Arizona and parts of New Mexico. Sections of Interstate 40 and Historic Route 66 were rebuilt together with nearby cities, landmarks, and depots.

Cities such as Kingman, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon Village, Page, Kayenta, Camp Verde, and Show Low were refreshed, while Lake Havasu City was added as a brand-new city. Famous locations like the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City are now represented in-game as well. This kind of work shows that SCS wants older ATS areas to meet the same visual standard as newer expansions.

Driving Academy expansion

Version 1.58 also expands the Driving Academy with a Double Trailer Handling module. This mode teaches players how to drive, maneuver, and reverse with two trailers through a series of guided lessons. The challenges are divided into three chapters, and players who complete all of them receive a small in-game reward: a “wiener dog” toy for the truck cabin.

This kind of feature may seem smaller than a full vehicle pack, but it is still important. It shows that SCS continues to add training content, skill-based progression, and optional challenges outside of the normal delivery system.

New truck garages and visual refinements

Another part of update 1.58 is a complete visual rework of all three truck garage types. Interiors were refreshed, lighting was improved, and many atmospheric details were added to make these spaces feel less dated. Garages are a basic part of the ATS experience, so modernizing them helps the entire game feel more polished.

These kinds of improvements matter because they show that SCS is not only chasing new map DLC and vehicles. The studio is also paying attention to older systems and presentation details that players interact with every day.

Continual state expansions and industry diversity

Outside of Road Trip content, SCS continues to expand ATS with new states and new industries. Recent releases such as Iowa, Louisiana, and Nordic Horizons show that the company still has a steady long-term plan for both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2. On top of that, annual updates keep bringing new cargoes, trailers, lessons, and visual upgrades. That steady flow of content gives ATS a strong base for experimenting with bigger additions like Road Trip.

What the future may hold

Road Trip suggests a much broader future for American Truck Simulator. Instead of remaining only a trucking simulator, ATS may gradually become a wider open-road simulation platform where players can choose different vehicle types and different ways to interact with the map. The Ford Car Pack already shows this idea clearly by mixing a pickup, a sedan, a classic muscle car, and an SUV in one package.

The RAM & Dodge Car Pack points in the same direction, with vehicles like the RAM 1500, Dodge Charger, Dodge Viper, and Dodge Challenger. If every Road Trip pack unlocks the same module, then future packs will likely continue expanding the vehicle roster rather than splitting the system into separate pieces. That opens the door to more brands, more classes of vehicle, and possibly even more specialized gameplay.

Looking further ahead, SCS could build on this foundation in several directions. More personal vehicle features, expanded exploration systems, new package-based jobs, or even entirely new non-truck careers are now easier to imagine than before. At the same time, the modding community will almost certainly keep pushing the idea further with custom cars, traffic overhauls, and map projects of its own. As usual with ATS, the future will probably be shaped by both official development and community creativity working side by side.

We are happy to share with you that the 1.44 update has now been released for American Truck Simulator. This update is packed with new features and changes, so we recommend reading through them all.

California Rework: Phase 2

We are excited to bring Phase 2 of the California Rework as part of this free update for all owners of American Truck Simulator. The focus of this projects sees the cities Eureka, Ukiah, Sacramento, Redding, and Truckee which have been rebuilt from the ground up, along with local landmarks, architecture and surrounding road networks.

We will also be saying goodbye to the city of San Rafael. Due to the map scale, we had to make the hard decision to remove the city from the in-game economy. To make up for this, we will be introducing a brand new city, which will be larger and of much greater importance in California’s road network in Phase 3 of our ongoing project! Any guesses which one it might be?

New rest areas and truck stops have also been implemented, but that isn’t all! You will also find new assets, vegetation, and textures too, giving the area a completely new look and feel. We can’t wait for you to explore it for yourselves. You can read more all about the rework on previous blogposts which have highlighted the cities and more which have been reworked

Mod Refund Feature

Since the introduction of third party modification support in our convoy mode, our team has been working to improve the mod support experience. In this update, we are happy to share a new feature which we hope will further improve players gameplay when playing with modifications.

We like to call this new addition the ‘Mod Refund’ feature. In simple terms, after a player has downloaded a third party modification and used it on their truck, they may in the future want to remove it (or it even may have become incompatible). This new feature reads and recognises the data from the modification, even if it has been removed, and refunds the player the difference with the in-game currency. This removes the problem of players losing money after using a modification.

It works by recognising that a crucial part is missing (such as the chassis, engine etc) and replacing it with a default part. Players will be prompted with a pop-up containing information that some parts are being refunded and will be given the option to accept or reject this refund. If you decide to reject the refund and reactivate the mod instead, the truck will now revert to its former glory even if you have saved the game in the meantime.

So, whether you’re trucking with friends in a convoy session with mods, or you want to remove a certain modification after use, this new feature will make sure you won’t go out of pocket!

Read more for FULL feature list

Licensed vs Aftermarket Customization Options in UI

Players customising their truck or looking at new parts in the garage may see some new icons appearing in the list. In total we have added 4 new icons to represent what type of accessory it is. When you hover over them, they will show if they are classed as a:

• Factory part – A stock part sold by the manufacturer (including interiors)
• Licensed part – Anything that is officially licensed that is not produced by truck factory
• Aftermarket part – Any additional accessory that is not related to the brand.
• Unknown part – A part that is not recognised or in some cases, a third party modification.

This should help drivers when it comes to customisation if they wish to keep it within the manufacturers customisation options, or tune their truck further with aftermarket parts. We hope you enjoy this small yet helpful feature!

Unmarked Roads Exploration

With the 1.44 update, we are bringing into ATS and ETS2 a new feature; once you drive onto an unmarked road, you will be notified about having done so with a message in the route advisor, and the explored road will appear on the map as an orange dashed line, with any unexplored part ahead of you shown in grey.

On one hand, this will ensure that you will immediately be aware of the fact that you have found something interesting, and on the other hand, if you ever decide to re-visit a hidden zone you will know where to go.

Map explorers, do not panic! These unmarked roads do not contribute to your map discovery percentage, but they do add a nice addition to your GPS if you do come across them.

Force Feedback Upgrade

This update also includes a few new upgrades to the force feedback experience when playing ATS or ETS2. These changes have been made to represent a more realistic driving experience, which includes:

• New gearbox grind effect simulating vibration of missed gear when using manual shifting.
• New understeer slip effect simulating tyre slip when vehicle is understeering
• Revisited power steering curves and pressure gain of self centering effect to improve steering feel.
• Revisited internal friction force giving better feedback depending on the speed of steering.

Since self centering and internal friction were updated, we highly recommend that you reset the FFB settings to their defaults again.

Smart Sequential Shifting

Smart Sequential Shifting is now available to truckers, if they wish to enable it via the options. So what does it do? In simple terms, when you shift up or down sequentially, it will automatically shift by more gears at once based on the current torque or speed.

For this to work, drivers will still need to trigger the shifting process, but once working, should require less input from the driver.

Interior Camera Horizontal Lock

This new option allows truckers driving in the first person view (in the cabin) to lock the camera view to the horizon, so that it moves more independently from the position of the cabin.

With the introduction of this new feature, players can find a slider in the options that defines the locking factor; with the slider being to the left disabling the locking and to the right, being the strongest locking option.

Adjustable Suspension Height

Sometimes, when you are driving a big rig, trailer pick ups can be a bit tricky. Adjustable suspension height should help drivers eliminate the problem of hooking upto sometimes problematic trailers or in difficult pick up/delivery area.

Drivers now can lower the suspension of their truck to get the correct height for hooking up their trailer, without damaging it. Players will be able to find the inputs for this new adjustable suspension in the options. Its inputs are front up/down and rear up/down.

We have also included a new UI prompt which appears when the drivers are having trouble hooking up their trailers after a few attempts. We hope this makes picking up deliveries of any size easier in the future!

Ownable Drop Deck Trailers

In this update, we are happy to introduce a brand new ownable trailer type as well – the drop deck trailer! What makes this trailer special is the fact that it has a lower center of gravity, and it combines the advantages of flatbed and lowboy, which results in a flat surface and a high weight-bearing capacity.

It is perfect for hauling items and materials such as aircraft engines, backhoe loaders, forklifts and so much more. Also, because drop decks are low, we had to design new small tires, rims, nuts, and hubs, specifically for this trailer type.

In addition to having 3 customizable body types (wood floor, aluminum floor, sliding tarp) and 2 different chassis lengths (48ft or 53ft) with a choice of two, three, or four axles, here is a detailed list of everything you will be able to customize:

• Front walls
• Wind deflector
• Warning flags
• Aluminum boxes
• Chrome boxes
• Side markers
• Rear banners (long load, oversize load, wide load)
• Rear bumpers
• Mudflaps

We hope you enjoy trucking with this sturdy, reliable, and practical trailer type in the 1.44 update.

Cascadia MY2022 Interior Options 

Among other changes arriving in American Truck Simulator in the 1.44 update, there will also be a rather small addition, that is technically actually bigger than it might seem. We are excited to let you know that we are bringing new interior options for Freightliner Cascadia trucks!

In total, there will be 3 new interior trims added for the Freightliner Cascadia in order to line-up with what they are now offering in real-life. The all-new trim designs will be available in all 4 cabin types. But we have also taken a step further with the 72″ cabin versions because these trims will include a table with seats in the back as well!

We hope you enjoy trucking with these new interior options for the Cascadia.

New Special Transport Routes

From oversized cargo to challenging routes, the Special Transport DLC offers players a unique trucking experience; and today we are happy to share that 8 new routes will be arriving to the roads American Truck Simulator in this update.

Much like our previous addition of new Special Transport routes to Euro Truck Simulator 2, our team wanted to bring new additional content for our drivers in ATS too! You can find these new contracts between:

SCS introducing Colorado for American Truck Simulator. This DLC is currently in progress. So, now you can see a few screenshots from this awesome map DLC for ATS.

Home to some of the country’s tallest mountains, a wide variety of biomes and an array of unique industries; this map expansion will bring beautiful landscapes and new road networks for drivers to explore and deliver to.

But where did the name Colorado originate from? The origin of the word actually comes from the Spanish language, which means ‘colored red’. This name was chosen for the territory by U.S congress in 1861, which may be the reason why the state received the nickname of ‘Colorful Colorado’. However, many believe it received this nickname because of the magnificent scenery of mountains, rivers and plains you can find across the State.

Colorado is a project that SCS is currently developing at full capacity in parallel with Idaho DLC; of course, our Euro Truck Simulator 2 fans know that there are yet more projects in production! At the moment, our aim is to complete and release Colorado a few months after Idaho, tentatively towards the end of this year. Please note, however, that due to extraordinary circumstances we face during this time, this timeframe may change.

American Truck Simulator demo has been released. You can download demo version from Steam.

Go to the Steam and click in right side Download Demo button.

Go to Steam

SCS Software decided that it’s high time we packed our bags, took our truck driver license together with our favorite windshield toy, and head to the other side of the ocean. After few years of driving on the Old Continent and creating an empire of transportation, the Czech studio is taking us to hot California and equally vast Nevada. The change is quite apparent, and you can actually see it, hear it and feel it. Being a truck driver in the United States is a completely different – and much better – experience.

We learned about the existence of American Truck Simulator a long time ago. Although Euro Truck Simulator series was undoubtedly an amazing phenomenon that attracted thousands of sim lovers and fans of big trucks, many gamers wanted something new that would make them twice as excited to take the steering wheel of the 18-wheeler and roam the highways with more and more expensive cargo. A virtual trip to America is supposed to be that motivating factor and I believe that’s the best decision the developers could have made.

More information in GamePressure review: http://www.gamepressure.com/e.asp?ID=501

It’s time to respond to the avalanche of questions coming our way concerning our plans for the initial edition of American Truck Simulator and its post-release future.

The day one release will contain the state of California. That was always the plan.

We are happy to confirm that on February 3rd, we will also have the state of Nevada fully ready for release. We were still not sure about Nevada’s finish-line when the game box packaging design was being finalized, so the boxes sitting on retail shelves will put the spotlight on California, but there is actually more coming your way right out of the gate. In short, DLC Nevada will be a free game update for everyone, no matter where or when you will have bought the game, available immediately on official release date.

It is also public knowledge by now that we are hard at work on the state of Arizona. On the packaging of the retail box, there is actually an explicit statement that DLC Arizona will unlock for owners of this game edition when it’s eventually finished. We are delighted to confirm that Arizona DLC will also be a free game update for everybody. You will just have to wait for it a little bit longer, this part of the world is still under development.

You do not really have to worry about the particular channel where to purchase the game, whether it’s on Steam, in any other digital store, or in a bricks-and-mortar shop, the playable content will be the same for everybody.

Actually, we should also mention that next to this base release, several retail publishers have decided to also offer a richer (and more expensive) edition of the game on release, calling it Collector’s Edition. These bigger cardboard boxes are surely nicer, they contain a cool selection of additional merchandise items, so it would be for example a very cool birthday gift with extra value. But when it comes to the game itself, the installation media is the same, and the same set of DLCs will be unlocked for those buying this special edition of the game as will for people with the regular edition of the game.

Recommended price of the game is going to be $20/€20, though it is to be expected that for alternate currencies, some local market specifics and the need to display a nice round figure may cause slight variations.

We surely do not plan to stop working on American Truck Simulator world with Arizona. However, please be aware that the road ahead of us is long, and it will take us years to cover the continent. We will continue to add features to the game with regular free updates, but most further map expansion DLCs, if not all, will be paid. We have had to pick a business model allowing us to build more than ten times the amount of content compared to what we are launching with. If you are looking forward to drive coast to coast, you will not be able to do that now, and it will cost you more eventually than the price of the initial purchase.

It would be great to get the chance to reach the East Coast, it would be fabulous to be able to push north towards at least 60 degs latitude and south towards the Equatorial. But ultimately, it is up to you, our fans, if this happen – you will vote with your wallets. We expect to get the right guidance from you on future growth of our team to handle the new opportunities and challenges.

Thank you for your patience and support!

Source: SCS Blog

American Truck Simulator will be released simultaneously in retail and digital channels on February 3, 2016. But that’s not “news” any more – hopefully you have the date marked in your calendar already! ;-)

To make as big a splash as possible during the release week – to place high in the best-selling chart and to make an impression on games industry press this way – we would like to create a sales spike just after the game starts selling. We will depend on our fan community to achieve this; when we were thinking on how to catalyze things, we came up with an idea of a little bribe bonus.

Here is the deal: Go to the American Truck Simulator Steam page and choose “Follow” to make sure you get all the important announcements through Steam’s Friend Activity feed during the period leading to the game’s release.

By getting as many people into our dragnet as possible, we hope for a bit of snowball effect in raising the awareness of the game’s impending release – not just among the hard-core fans, but also in general gamer population.

In exchange for the “follow,” we are ready to give you an exclusive gift: a set of unique Steampunk-themed truck paintjobs. It’s perfectly OK if you buy the game in a retail box or any alternate digital channel – so long as you follow the game’s official Steam community announcements and activate your game on Steam during the week after its release, you are eligible for this bonus.

Source: SCS blog

SCS team published American Truck Simulator release date – February 3, 2016.

Experience the most legendary American trucks and deliver various cargoes across the United States. American Truck Simulator takes you on a journey through the breathtaking landscapes and widely recognized landmarks around the States.