Freighters like these spend the majority of their time split between the long Hohmann Transfer Orbits taking physical cargo between the planets of the Solar system and in dock, recieving maintenance and being outfitted. They are generally equipped only with simple chemical combustion engines as opposed to more advanced Fission and Fusion designs used on starliners and warships, as they are intended to be low-cost vehicles even f that means the cargo they carry takes many months or years to reach its' destination.

Because of the amount of time these vessels are in space, they are almost entirely automated, except for no more than a half-dozen maintenance personnel there to fix anything the on-board maintenance drones cannot, and to act as the human commanding element of a large spacecraft (In keeping with interplanetary regulations on unmanned spacecraft forbidding large and high-mass vessels to be entirely automated). These half-dozen personnel are expected to live in microgravity for extended periods of time even with the addition of a centrifuge for recreation. Despite this, crews rarely have to do much in the way of actually maintaining the ship, meaning vessels must be equipped with recreational facilities to keep crew entertained (Though some also stock cryogenic storage facilities). The pay afforded to crew is initially fairly high, though expenses removed for feeding/ sheltering a crewmember, providing their medical care and other such duties on behalf of the parent company leave the remaining pay fairly meagre. Oftentimes, the crew embarking on such a vessel are merely temporary residents who sign on for a one-way trip to the Outer System's resource extraction facilities and orbital colonies.

As for the cargo carried by the freighters, it largely depends on the destination. Departing from Earth will usually bring luxury foods and items unable to be manufactured in the Jovian and Chronian systems such as meat, chocolate, "real" foods, and so forth, while returning vessels will typically carry advanced polymers synthesised in Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and rare earth metals like Palladium, Gold and Iridium mined in the Asteroids.

Due to the launch windows utilised by these ships every few months (Depending on planetary alignment), flotillas of Freighters, Tankers, Asteroid Tugs, Starliners*, Hydroponics Vessels, Orbital Guard escort frigates and merchant vessels will all travel on a similar trajectory. As such, they rarely travel alone, and the nature of space means that piracy is largely impossible - meaning Freighters can make huge mass savings on weaponry/ defensive systems (Or lack of such). However, at least one crew member will be trained in microgravity combat.