All trade and resource-processing in the Passage Lands is governed by proximity to reliable sources. There are only two “absolutely” reliable sources for their respective outputs: The Westrange Federation produces strip, and Agraria produces biomass. Everything else is inconsistent by virtue of its dependency on the aforementioned sources. While grazing livestock don’t need an input resource, their geographic inconsistency (the herds are constantly moving) makes them less reliable. 

The strategic availability of these two “Reliable Raw Sources” (RRS) affects the design philosophy of Clans regarding their infrastructure. Factions are either “flush” or “thin” on one of these sources regardless of their short-term prospects. For example: a non-nomadic Clan that borders the Triumvirate (Southwest quadrant of what was once Missouri) will forever be thin on strip, as it is incredibly far away from the RRS (the Federation’s border), but it will be flush with fuel and grain. The inverse is true for anyone near Arcwater (Once the city of Minneapolis). 

With these two spectrums, one can make a rough graphical demonstration of these distribution patterns. And make the following assumptions:

Vehicles near Agraria (Flush with Food and Fuel) will generally have:

• Less efficient propulsion mechanisms
• Lighter frames
• Higher top-speed
• Smaller overall vessel size

Vehicles near the Federation (Flush with strip) will generally have:

• Higher overall vessel size

• Hyper efficient propulsion mechanisms

• Heavier frames
• Lower speed