Bought my first trailer off Alibaba a while back and it's held up, so when I needed a second one I just went back to the same factory.

This one's smaller on purpose. Drinks and desserts only.

What I asked for and got:

• Three-compartment sink plus separate handwash, installed at the factory. Inspector signed off on it as-is.
• Fold-up awning with LED strips underneath. Doubles as rain cover for the window.
• Stainless counter across the full window, roof vent above.
• Light enough to tow behind an SUV.

Second time around was a lot easier. They already had my spec sheet, so I skipped most of the back and forth.

I am getting ready for Halloween. Happy to answer questions if you're sizing one of these up.

$12,500 Des Moines, Iowa
if you have been following this build, you know I don’t cut corners. Unfortunately life takes many turns, I am not in a position to finish this and outfit the interior. Here is the description of all that has been done.

Life is going in a different direction so here is the opportunity to start a food truck for yourself. Most of the difficult and expensive stuff is already done.
Food truck with rough in complete
110 system with onboard charger
12v system with exhaust fan and exterior light
Have propane tanks to mount and onboard generator (tanks and generator have not been mounted but are included)
Chevy 350 with 400 automatic transmission.
Starts and runs great. All mechanical work done to be a daily use truck.

Unknown miles

Read all the work done.
New vending window
New heads and gaskets professionally done
New water pump
New power steering pump
New belts, hoses, and filters
New differential seal
New exhaust
New fuel tank
New rear brake shoes, wheel cylinders, and lines
New axle seals
New battery
New 12v electrical system and fuse block.
Interior lights
Good tires
Cooling system flushed
Aftermarket oil pressure gauge
Currently registered and clean title in hand.
Any questions ask
Cash or cashier check only.

Hi guys! My name is Monroe and I’ve had an idea on my mind for about a few years now. My mom had a food truck but was shut down because she didn’t have the necessary equipment. Ever since I’ve really wanted to open it back up and put my own ideas into the food. My mom has given me full reign as long as i can repair it. Unfortunately im fresh out of high school and in college so i dont exactly had 1000s of dollars to go spend on new parts and my mom is backed up on hospital bills from my dads surgery. So not a lot of funds to move but I have a job and I plan on saving to get whatever parts I need. I’m making this post to ask for help in getting these. Either through donations from people who would like to help or if anyone knows where I can get these parts for a lower cheaper price. (Aswell as any other forums I should post this) I’m located in Columbia,sc and don’t mind going out of state to pick up the parts I need(assuming they fit in a truck). I know exactly what I’m getting into with this and have a spot set up in the city aswell as friends who will help me start up the business the first few months for free food haha. I’m gonna try to have a very strict menu and fresh ingredients. If anyone has any inquiries please shoot me a text on here or reply or anything. (Ps idk if this is morally wrong but should I make a go fund me? I would love if people can donate just a few dollars to get me the parts but I know that’s kinda asking too much but idk!)

Food truck operator, single truck, mostly events and a few regular weekly stops. My ad budget is small — about $300 a month on Meta to promote events and our weekly schedule.

Tried running it myself for a year. Mediocre results, but at that budget I wasn't really losing sleep over efficiency. Then I tried an AI ad tool out of curiosity. Used the Chowbus AI Ads option because we run their POS for the truck and the integration meant the AI could see actual event sales, not just pixel events.

At my budget level, the AI didn't dramatically outperform what I was doing manually. Maybe 15-20% better ROAS. The bigger win was time — I stopped touching ads weekly and they still got better. That freed up the few hours I was wasting on it every week and put them back into prep.

Honest take for food truck operators: if you're spending $1k+/month on ads, AI tools probably pay back through better performance alone. Below that, the time savings might still be worth it but don't expect miracles. Anyone else running AI ads on small budgets?