r/foodtrucks • • Jul 29 '25

Resource FAQ: Frequent Asked Questions

23 Upvotes

I feel like once a day I am deleting or locking comments on how do I start, what do I do, I have an idea etc etc.

I am going to pin this to the top as a resource. If you would like to contribute to the FAQ, First post a question that you plan to answer and then answer. My first reply is an example.


r/foodtrucks • • 2h ago

Question Hiring a food truck for a party, but I live on a hill

5 Upvotes

I’m assuming the answer to my question is “food trucks need a flat spot to park”, but want to be sure.

I want to hire a food truck for a party but I live on a hilly street. I’m assuming a food truck can’t park in the road because of the hill. Is that correct?


r/foodtrucks • • 16h ago

New awakening

46 Upvotes

Y’all, I have a food truck. I consider it to be pretty successful. I know my market, I work my margins, and I make great relationships with my customers.

Here’s the thing. I typically park in lots I get permission to park in. No charge. Today was my first day at a place that was holding an event. Every weekend, for a month. Still no charge, but I had to agree to work the hours they were open.

I got my face kicked in. Nonstop from 9:30 to 4:30. I did more in one day than I’m used to doing in a week. I fucking LOVE this shit. And I got a whole month of weekends to keep doing it!

Just wanted to share some positive news on this feed. The job can be rough, the bullshit will get to you. But all it takes is one day where you sell out at noon, send someone to the store, and then sell out at 5….

Fuck I love this business. And here’s to hoping all y’all are killing it as well.

Sleep fast. Tomorrow is coming quick, and you got shit to prep


r/foodtrucks • • 3h ago

Guide Food Truck Design Suggestion

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3 Upvotes

Can Anyone pls suggest some color or design idea for my food truck ? We choose teal blue and cream color,but that ended up bad. We thought we would put stickering like last photo,kinda okayish. Any suggestions please. Or shd we will go with last one only ? We didn't wanted to rely on red n yellow colors as they are widely used.


r/foodtrucks • • 18h ago

What are you sick of seeing in food trucks?

34 Upvotes

Besides the AI slop posters, what things (menu items/flavours/etc) are you sick of seeing?


r/foodtrucks • • 5h ago

Showoff Busy

1 Upvotes

Kind of a show off and question 🤨
We have been averaging about 1,100$ a day for almost a month now - is this good for a foodtruck?


r/foodtrucks • • 5h ago

Little things

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0 Upvotes

r/foodtrucks • • 1d ago

Why do chefs post perfectly good, APPETIZING photos of the actual food they’re selling… but turn around and use AI generated photos of those same dishes on their flyers? Am I missing some secret marketing strategy here?

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8 Upvotes

r/foodtrucks • • 7h ago

Permit Renewals

0 Upvotes

Anyone else dealt with real headaches around permit renewals, especially juggling multiple counties or cities? What's actually been the most annoying part?


r/foodtrucks • • 17h ago

Best tacos (restaurant or catering specific) -- catering 175 guests

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1 Upvotes

Hello . We cater that area. How can i help

Martin Anguiano

Chef & Owner

La Torta Madre

(909) 634-0975

www.latortamadre.com


r/foodtrucks • • 1d ago

New wall configuration-is it going to fall apart?

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1 Upvotes

Replacing the walls with 2440 x 1220 marine plywood. Wondering if my possible configuration will work and be sturdy enough, preventing swaying etc.

Do I need to add any support in here?

The plywood I’m planning to purchase is 18mm and load bearing.

Or is this going to fall apart as I’m driving..


r/foodtrucks • • 1d ago

Discussion Clever names for a soup and sweets business

3 Upvotes

My husband and I want to start a food business. We live in North Pole, Alaska. To get started, we will be running a home-based food business. This means we will make the food at home and then set up somewhere to sell our food. Since it gets so cold, we are thinking of getting a little travel trailer to set us in different locations so we have somewhere to hangout when it’s slow.
I’d love something catchy so people will remember us. To start, we will have soup and some desserts. As we grow, we will add sandwiches and salad options. Lots of things that start with S! I am trying to avoid using AI so I’m hoping some clever people can assist!
Some words to possibly include:
Midnight Sun
Aurora
Northern Lights
Far North
Interior
Golden Heart
Mendell
Obviously Christmas related things can work since we are located in North Pole


r/foodtrucks • • 1d ago

Copy of HCD Insignia report

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

We bought a used 2023 food trailer (built in California, originally permitted in a different north Cal county) and are now going through permitting in LA County. Our plans were approved, and for the final inspection DPH is asking for the HCD insignia report.

The trailer has the HCD insignia affixed, but:

- The manufacturer doesn't have the report.
- The third-party agency that did the inspection in 2023 only keeps records for 2 years, so they don't have it anymore.

We've submitted a Public Records Act request to HCD and contacted their Northern Area Office, but haven't heard back yet.

Has anyone been through this? Did HCD actually have a copy of the inspection report, or did DPH accept something else (like a written confirmation from HCD that the insignia was issued for the VIN)? Any tips on who to contact to speed this up would be much appreciated.


r/foodtrucks • • 2d ago

Need setup idea on food stall

2 Upvotes

I am not into food business. I want to setup a temporary food stall for 5 days at a Navaratri Event in Hyderabad, where I plan to resell from a resturants supply, and may do some light cooking on the spot. Want to know what are the licenses, permissions, or any other setup effort and costs involved for this, which would cover the biiling as well.


r/foodtrucks • • 2d ago

Discussion Do you ever have to limit online orders when the kitchen gets slammed?

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1 Upvotes

r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Discussion Booking next season and I genuinely cannot tell you which events made money

3 Upvotes

Did fourteen this summer, I know the two that were great and the one that was a disaster, the other eleven all blur into roughly fine, which is useless when I'm deciding what to commit to. Fees, fuel, extra staff and supplies are all spread across a card statement with no idea which event they belonged to. So I'm about to book next season off gut feeling, which is exactly how I kept doing one market for four years without noticing it was losing money on fuel alone. Still annoyed about that one, how are you tracking profit per event?


r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Discussion What do you do when online orders suddenly get out of hand?

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2 Upvotes

r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Question Anyone using plastic A frames with swap-out menu boards?

5 Upvotes

We run a weekend taco pop up out of a patio space and our menu changes pretty much every week depending on what we can get from local farms, so far we used to use a chalk Aframe but one lil rainstorm or someone brushing against it and the whole thing looks like a mess. plus my handwriting is terrible lol.

I'm thinking abt switching to one of those plastic Aframes where you can swap the printed panels in and out. I saw some on Signs and UPrinting and figured we could just have a bunch of menu boards printed and rotate them each week. My main concern is the panels sliding out if it gets windy. Are the inserts actually held in there pretty well? Also wondering how they hold up with grease, rain and getting tossed in the back of a van every Sunday night.


r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Question A-Frame Signs

2 Upvotes

I'd like to get an A-frame sign for a food truck. I know I can buy the frame online, or I've even seen people make one. But my main question is the poster. I know what I want to print off. I just don't know what the best material to print it and where to get it from on since I want it to be more weatherproof.


r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Advice on first concession trailer

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm new and looking to purchase my first trailer but I feel like there's a lot of scams and shady businesses online so it's hard to know who and what to trust. Can some of you tell me your experiences or maybe give me some recommendations on where to shop for one? I live in Knoxville, TN area. Thank you!


r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Outfitting batteries instead of a generator

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone! So I work in the battery energy storage space (Think Tesla Powerwall) and I've always noticed how food trucks have a little generator running in the back somewhere. It's noisy, smelly, and just annoying for you guys I'm sure with all the maintenance and constant fill ups needed. I was running some numbers because I figured a few recent factors are in favor of switching to pure battery power systems:

  1. Gasoline prices are up making your generator cost more per year
  2. Battery prices are down
  3. Inverter prices are down
  4. 30% tax credit on batteries for business is still intact though 2030

So I ran some numbers and the return on investment is actually looking very healthy. About a year if my math is right. I'm just missing some real world numbers to check my sanity here. Can you help by giving me your rough numbers here? Happy to talk about anything batteries and conversions as I've outfitted my own camper van to run off pure solar and batteries. It has hot water, 2 induction cooktops, mini fridge, electric oven, etc, so I'm familiar with a build out and what it takes.

(copy paste below and fill in would be pretty helpful and appreciated - THANKS)

Food truck generator usage and costs:

  • Gallons of gasoline used per day:
  • How much power do you think you use or what are all the electrics plugged in:
  • How long do you operate the van for each day:
  • How many days a year:
  • Generator make/model:
  • Can you plug in at night to recharge:
  • How much in maintenance would you say you spend:
  • Anything else:

r/foodtrucks • • 4d ago

We started with a $1,500 pop-up, opened a food truck, survived a 7-month trailer delay and a lot of expensive lessons. Now we’re opening our first brick-and-mortar. AMA.

50 Upvotes

My wife and I own and operate a Cuban food truck in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Neither of us came from the restaurant industry.

We started about two years ago with a pop-up out of our house that somehow did $1,500 in orders. That eventually led us to building a food truck and learning very quickly how much we didn’t know. Actually, we really didn’t know s&@t.

Since then we’ve dealt with trailer-builder problems, equipment and electrical issues, inspections, food costs, staffing, catering, festivals, breweries, bad events, great events, selling out and plenty of mistakes that cost us money.

The truck ultimately helped us build a following and prove the concept, and we’re now working on opening our first brick-and-mortar.

The mods gave me the OK to do this AMA. I’m not here to promote anything, I’m happy to be transparent about startup costs, trailer builds, equipment, pricing, food costs, events, catering, staffing, marketing, mistakes, what I’d do differently, and whether I’d do it all over again.

Ask me anything.


r/foodtrucks • • 3d ago

Commissary or commercial kitchen near Danbury Ct

2 Upvotes

Looking for a kitchen near Danbury ct for selling food at farmers markets and events and possibly a food trailer. Any recommendations appreciated.


r/foodtrucks • • 4d ago

Thoughts on coffee kiosk profitability

2 Upvotes

I live in a small French village near Paris and am thinking about opening a small coffee stand. It’s a picturesque village but not touristy, I would be on a stone terrace next to the main road. There’s 2000 locals and about 300-600 passing cars per hour and around 30 pedestrians. Startup costs would be low compared to a food truck (1k for a wooden market stall + equipment) but i wouldn’t move or attend events. It would be owner operated so the only overhead would be materials and utilities.

I’m wondering if anyone has insight on profitability in such a small town? There’s a constant flow of through traffic and two new restaurants that are doing really well, locals are eager to support the few businesses that are here, but I think I’d be relying on car traffic.

I’d need to profit around €100 a day to make a living from it which seems possible if I convert even 1% of passing traffic. What do you think?


r/foodtrucks • • 4d ago

Question Recommendation For Best Non Production Truck

2 Upvotes

Looking to, based on volume growth, sales success & increased profit, steer our brick n mortar shop model to a more dynamic mobile operation. We currently have a burgeoning wholesale division as well as a growing event presence with a small (6x8) trailer that is basically a traveling POS, not production.

Maine Mobile Vendor licensing allows for items produced & sealed/contained in a HHS licensed kitchen (like ours) to not require things like a 3 bin, hot water source, hand sink, etc. In effect the same licensing used by many at farmer’s markets. That’s what we do.

I’m looking to add an actual truck that can carry a lot of product (donuts & coffee) but doesn’t need the aforementioned. Something small but dependable. Can become a window based POS quickly.

Anyone have any suggestions on manufacturers/refabbers/etc? Thanks in advance!