What is the difference between goods and freight?

Goods spawn at commercial buildings at 6 am and at 6 pm.

Residential shoppers buy the goods from commercial buildings. If there are no goods at a close commercial building, the shopper will search farther and farther for goods.

This is how it happens:

• Goods spawn at commercial buildings.
• Shopper leaves a residential building with money.
• Shopper enters the commercial building. The money is left in the building, a good is consumed, and the commercial building gains happiness.
• Shopper leaves the commercial building, satisfied.
• Shopper arrives home and the residential building gains happiness.

In the commercial view, dark blue bars represent goods, while dark blue cars and people represent shoppers. The building on the left has depleted its goods, and will not be visited by any more shoppers this cycle.

The green smiley (with an up arrow above) is a residential building gaining happiness that a satisfied shopper has returned.

Commercial buildings that don't successfully sell goods will abandon.

Freight is generated from industrial buildings while workers are present. Industrials ship freight to commercials and storage. Freight that is delivered to storage just "rots", allowing allowing more shipments to arrive.

Freight that is delivered to a commercial building is converted into money inside the building. Money in a commercial building allows the building to grow and keeps the building from abandoning. It is possible to keep a commercial building alive and growing through goods sales only, with no freight delivered.

This is how it happens:

• An industrial has workers, and so it generates freight.
• A freight order is found and a shipping truck is dispatched from the industrial to the shipping order.
• On delivery the shipping truck is satisfied.
• When the shipping truck returns to the industrial building, the building gains happiness.

In the Industrial View, there are four highlighted items:

The yellow bar indicates freight in the industrial building, while the teal bar indicates past successful shipments. Yellow trucks indicate freight headed to fill an order. Teal trucks indicate satisfied shipments returning to the industrial building.

The whole freight acceptance and decay concept appears to be in flux at this point. At launch, I observed trade depots filling with freight, which would just sit. Today, these same depots receive freight and vaporize it within the hour. I have observed trade depots, commercial buildings and coal mining plants accepting freight.

Industrial buildings that don't successfully ship freight will abandon.