Scrap and money
Money comes from completed deliveries. Scrap is a second progression currency earned by finding abandoned machinery and recyclable objects around the valley, and it is converted into upgrade materials at Red's Scrapyard.
Two currencies, two jobs
Truckful's progression runs on a split that the FAQ describes in two separate answers. Read together:
- Money comes from deliveries.
- Scrap is "a second progression currency", earned by "discovering abandoned machinery and recyclable objects scattered around the valley".
- Scrap is brought to Red's Scrapyard, where it converts "into upgrade materials".
So delivering pays for the truck, and scavenging pays for the parts. A player who only does jobs will always be short of materials; a player who only hoovers up scrap will have parts and nowhere to put them.
Money
| Source | Notes |
|---|---|
| Completed deliveries | The main income. Paid on completion, so a ruined fragile load is an unpaid run |
| Errands for villagers | The FAQ frames villagers as the people you work for; some also hand over upgrades rather than cash |
Because payouts scale with the job, the riskier deliveries are usually the better paid ones — a fast job with ice-cold fish, or a fragile job with an irreplaceable vase. The economics of that trade are the same as the physics: more risk, more reward, and a load you have to pack for.
Scrap
Scrap is deliberately physical: it comes from abandoned machinery and recyclable objects lying in the world, which makes exploration itself a form of income. That is why the FAQ pairs the question about scrap with the question about environments — the marshes, tunnels, caves and dusty abandoned regions are exactly where machinery and junk accumulate.
Red's Scrapyard is the conversion point. Community Update #12 (June 2026) was titled around Red's Scrapyard, and the FAQ confirms it as the place where scrap becomes upgrade materials.
Practical habits:
- If you can see it and it is not scenery, drive over and look. Scrap does not announce itself.
- Explore on the way back from a delivery rather than as a separate trip — the route is already paid for.
- Water and cave regions are worth the detour once you have the capability to cross them, because they are where abandoned equipment sits.
What to spend first
The same logic as the upgrade order: handling and sticky cargo before capacity and boosters. If you are short of materials early, the cheapest route to a stable truck is grip, not power — one bad corner undoes more deliveries than a slow one ever will.
Red's Scrapyard
| Known | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Named location in the valley, tied to scrap conversion | What an upgrade actually costs in scrap |
| Featured as the subject of Community Update #12 | Whether Red sells anything for money as well as converting scrap |
| Converts scrap into upgrade materials per the FAQ | Whether conversion rates improve as you progress |
How this fits the wider loop
The delivery → money → truck loop and the explore → scrap → parts loop only meet when you spend at the same time, which is what makes exploring worth doing on a haul you have already been paid for. If you want the route-level version of this, the valley regions page lists which surfaces and obstacles each area adds, and the beginner guide covers the first hour where these two loops start.
