For some reason Atlas is much more efficient than Colossus, a much bigger jump than Buffalo to Colossus. By efficient i mean in terms of cargo/maintenance(Atlas: 200/1, Colossus: 150/1) , cargo/fuel use (333.33 vs 225), cargo/DP(200 vs 112.5), fleet slot, basically everything. It pretty much makes Colossus pointless considering Atlas can be acquired very early and easy. It is everywhere, and don't cost all that much.
Now you might say hey it is kinda slow, has huge sensor profile, but these are fixed with hull mods. Mil spec buff speed to 7, and remove the sensor debuff. Slap a augmented drive field on it and it will be 9 speed, as fast as a destroyer. Normally there is a 2 mod only limit of logistic, but this can be solved with S-mod.
Ever since the introduction of S-mods, the 2 logi mod cap can be bypassed. With some S-mod Atlas fleet no longer have any downside, it may as well be a destroyer speed cargo carrier. S-mod the augmented drive field, now it moves at 9 speed. Milspec mod this to 10 speed for frigate fleets, and remove sensor profile debuff. Use the 2nd mod for cargo space and it is all good. Efficiency mod is unneeded because it is already more efficient than Colossus with efficiency modding, but sure you can s-mod it if you care.
Optional: s-mod the insulated engine, now it has less sensor profile than a cruiser, which basically is nothing.
Suggested solution: Make Atlas slightly less efficient, so it don't fully beat out a maxed colossus with 1 s-mod.
10>12 DP
10>12 maintnence
6>7 fuel/ly
With this change, the base Atlas is still more supply efficient than colossus, just less of a no-brainer after a single s-mod. It retain the niche of having most concentrated logistic ship in 1 fleet slot, much more DP efficient for end game, and generally more efficient to move mass cargo around. What it will not do is beating a Colossus with 1 s-mod without investing its own. If both gets 1 S-mod, they still retain their niche. Thoughts?