Isn't there an easy way to find an idle freighter?
In the Planet/Ship List, at the end of the row with all the headings (mine, foreign, unowned, all), is a magnifying glass. You can use it to search the ship for you, instead of doing it manually. However, you have to type in the name precisely, or the search won't find it. So it's probably best to give each freighter a distinctive name.
Or have I got that wrong?
Once the trade route is established, your freighter will move only one tile per turn, period. So more engines won't help you in that regard. However, a faster freighter will allow you to establish the trade route quicker, so I consider this a nice trade-off. It really depends on how far away the target planet is, and on your engine-technology. If a faster freighter will only save you two or three turns, then it isn't worth it, in my opinion.
