I tried searching but there is no definite thread and most are about trading in general.

My question is how many trade ships should be used on a node? If the ships require I believe 46 upkeep, at what point does it become a waste to put more ships there?

Also I see there's a larger trade ship later down the art line that one can build so again how many of those and it says it can trade with the west so I'm confused if it can do other things the smaller trade ship couldn't?