Referral-Table-Spectrum-of-Civil-Shipping

Spectrum of Civil Shipping in Charted Space: 1105
Cateogries	A-class	R-class	M-class	T-class
Synopsis	Tramp	Liner	Freighter	Transport & Tanker
Hull Tonnage	100 to 2,499 dTons	100 to 2,499 dTons	2,500 to 999,999 dTons	2,500 to 999,999 dTons or more... (...rarely more than 1,000,000) dTons
Size-Cat	ACS	ACS	BCS & FCS	BCS & FCS (rarely WCS)
Ideal Freight Volume	Zero to Low (Hundreds of tons)	Medium (Hundreds to Thousands of tons)	High (Thousands to Tens of Thousands of tons)	Very High (Tens to Hundreds of Thousands of tons)
Market	Unscheduled low volume, high speculation trade routes	Mostly scheduled, medium speculation, subsidized trade routes	Scheduled medium and high-volume, low speculation trade routes	Scheduled high volume trade routes with massive economies of scale, or massive (...usually government) projects
Rough Market Share	10%	25%	45%	20%
Area of Influence	Cluster or Trace+	Subsector+	Sector	Multi-Sector
Business	Fledgling Line	Subsector-wide Line & Interface Line	Sector-wide Line	Multi-sector Line
Remarks	Merchant Princes & Adventurers	Scheduled & Subsidized Trade	Backbone of Merchant Trade	Corporate Bulk Trade
NOTES: While standards exist, ship naming standards evolve with time and over tech epochs. Class naming comments are only generalizations and many exceptions exist. Trade is heavily affected by local regulations, the rule of law, and local security conditions. WCS-class vessels are not ordinarily used for merchant missions as they are too large and expensive.