If you come in as a new player to EVE and ask what to start off doing, you will probably hear things like mission running, ratting, exploration, maybe even the Abyss. However, you will seldom hear “hauling.” The business of hauling can be extremely lucrative, but also a very daunting prospect. In this article, we are going to explore the intricacies of hauling: the corps, the solo players, and the innovation of the industry.
First, let’s look at what hauling is. Eve University defines it as “the practice of moving cargo from one place to another. Due to limited cargo hold sizes and travel times, moving things in EVE can be a time-consuming and, in some places, dangerous business. Some players specialize in hauling, whether to move goods from one market to another or to bring supplies and ships to the staging ground for a nullsec alliance. This can be done for its own purposes or can be done on behalf of others in exchange for ISK rewards via the contracting system.”
Haulers must also consider the fittings. What truly makes a hauling ship what it is? Typically, smaller cargo ships carrying valuable small loads will focus on a near-instant align time. However, larger freighters will focus on their tank as well, giving them the ability to tank ganks with an incredibly high amount of EHP. An understanding of both of these basic fitting styles gives you an overview of the industry of hauling, but I wanted to delve deeper into what it truly means to be a hauler and how that profession affects the EVE player base.
First, let’s look at the major corporations of hauling: PushX and the Frogs (Red/Black). I interviewed them about their origins and how they grew, seeking information about what makes a great hauling corp. The current CEO of PushX is not the original founder, but he did tell me about their growth: “I can tell you that PushX has grown by always staying on the cutting edge of the hauling meta, by updating our technology and tools to keep up with EVE’s meta. Customers appreciate [that] we can offer services that reflect their needs in game, even as EVE changes.”
Talking to the CEO of the Red Frogs, I learned about their origins. In our interview, he detailed how the Red Frog Freight used to be a small group inside of Red Frog Investments, which was started in about 2003-2005. However, due to an internal disagreement, Red Frog Freight broke off from their parent corp and became independent. Eventually, the need and idea for Black Frog Logistics (Red Frog Freight’s sister company, hauling in null sec) came to fruition.
This information about older and established groups begs the question: “How can new players fit into this profession?” In the interviews I asked: “Would you say that hauling as a whole is unfriendly to new players, or can a new player get into this aspect of EVE and thrive? What would be ways these larger hauling corps could make the profession viable to new players?” Both the CEOs of PushX and Red Frogs had interesting takes on these questions. The CEO of the Frogs talked about the realistic limitations of hauling saying: “Yes I think new players can get into hauling, just at a scale that is inline with their SP and wealth. So when people say ‘larger’ hauling corps, they really are speaking about PushX and Red Frog. In the case of Red Frog, other than being willing to give advice to any new players who ask in our channels, we don’t really assist them in making the profession more viable.” This is a very realistic take on hauling and one that is good to have in mind while thinking about the subject.
PushX also gave a similar response, saying: “The children are the future, right? So how do we prepare the children for ‘the future?’ Hauling, in itself, isn’t that hard to get into. It usually always starts with hauling your personal stuff. Hauling as a professional – hauling other people’s stuff – can be more difficult. . . . The larger hauling corps tend to have higher requirements because they are the premier hauling services for all of New Eden and customers expect premier service. Due to high demand, those corps are usually looking for haulers who are ready to go and who can start moving freight safely and efficiently for customers.”
While it is a high bar, it can be very profitable, with PushX reporting that the average hauler for them makes 1-3 billion ISK a week with some making up to 5-8 billion. Likewise, the Frogs reported billions of ISK in income for their haulers. However, the starting capital required is quite large – over 6 billion, unfitted, using Jita price, according to PushX’s website. As it stands, this large-scale way of hauling is good money but hard for new players to get into.
However, there is one group looking to change that: HighSec BuyBack. This upstart group started under seven weeks ago but has already grown to take in over 120 billion ISK via almost 600 individual contracts between February 4th and February 17.
The premise of the business revolves around taking contracts at 90% of Jita buy. Some players might not like this approach, but obviously many people enjoy the convenience. One of the executives told me they have “a really good transparent framework; people can see and compare prices with the Jita sell/buy, plus a link to evepraisal so pilots can double-check the fairness of the order. So, usually any accusation of scam (and there is A LOT of scamming in EVE) is easily dismissed.”
The business was the creation of Lerso, the developer, who already had a website appraising items at 90% Jita, and Vecia, a self-described spacepreneur and newbro. The two came together to form HighSec BuyBack. However, this project was not just for the owners’ profit. They also had the goal of making hauling a profitable and promising career in EVE.
Vecia said, “We are creating this niche community that we hope will challenge a few things in EVE – like hauling not being viable. Then you have the couriers’ side, which means, provided we have the best service in town, we will have the best customers and regulars too.” When I asked about how they were making hauling more viable, he told me about their Haul of Champions, a way of game-ifying hauling in EVE which is accessible to Day 1 Alphas: “we take small reward packages; players like to sell junk and we will gladly take it from them. Due to our business’s nature, packages will come in all types of sizes, values, and jumps. We wanted to create a system that would top up on our courier jobs and encourage haulers to pick up even the 5k reward items 13 jumps away. Our bonus system will enable newbros and veterans to get into hauling for good money, so the idea feeds itself. The more customers we get, the more packages, the more haulers will get rewarded, the more people will hear about hauling for millions, the more people use our service and the more packages we get.”
This business shows the true entrepreneurial spirit of the game. Imagine that Vecia and Lerso are making an 8% cut of every contract. That means they made 9.6 billion ISK in a week and a half running a start-up in a video game. Things like this are really what make EVE stand out.
I believe that anyone who works for the good of the game deserves some recognition. But this doesn’t just go for HighSec BuyBack. I think the scale and organization of these larger hauling corps is a testament to the sheer scale of EVE. These are full size, fully functioning businesses inside of a video game. This only goes to show what everyone who plays EVE already knows: EVE is like no other video game ever created.
Overall, I think that hauling may be a possible undiscovered gem of EVE, with the great profitability of hauling as shown through the numbers provided. However, this wealth is not readily available to new players. That is changing with the advent of HighSec BuyBack and other companies like it. Perhaps hauling will take an upwards turn and become a great, newly-popularized profession in EVE.
