Take The Food Truck Operators Survey from the U.S. Chamber Foundation
Sprinter Van built by M&R Specialty Trailers and Trucks. Are you a food truck operator with concerns about regulations or industry challenges? The U.S. Chamber Foundation wants to hear from you. You can respond to their 10-minute online survey by clicking the green take survey button on this page. The goal of this survey is for the organization to better understand the regulatory challenges that operators face. These understand challenges are often unique to each city, which makes blanket legal food truck recommendations more difficult. What may be a huge issue in Chicago, may not be the same [...]
How Much Does a BBQ Concession Business Cost to Start?
For the purposes of this particular blog post we will be focusing on the costs to start a BBQ concession, catering, or vending business using a mobile unit like a trailer or truck. At M&R Specialty Trailers and Trucks one of our specialties is manufacturing BBQ trailers, trucks, and smokers built to our customers needs and desires. Not only do we understand the cost to operate this type of business, but understand the different goals people have when investing in a BBQ trailer. Some of our customers like Wade, an active service member of the United States military, invested in [...]
Is it Possible to Serve Beer and Alcohol from a Food Truck?
Is it possible to start a bar food truck that serves beer, wine, or hard alcohol? The simple answer is that in most situations you won't be able to. Liquor licenses are determined on both the state and city level. As a result, you will need to look into your state and city laws to determine if this is an option for you. With that being said here are some things to consider if you're in the planning stages of starting a food truck that serves alcohol and the reasons why accomplishing this goal will be difficult. There are a couple [...]
What is a Roach Coach? Where Did the Term Come From?
Before the rise of gourmet food trucks there was the "roach coach." In fact, a small number of people (generally over the age of 60) still refer to mobile food units by the name roach coach. Fortunately, over the past 20 years the perception of the quality of food that can be served from a truck has been completely transformed and flipped on its head thanks to the innovative chefs that operate food trucks in the 21st century. In today's post, we discuss how that name came to be and dive into the history of the food truck so you [...]
What Are The 20 Most Popular Food Truck Menu Concepts?
Thinking about getting into the food truck business, but struggling to find your perfect menu? In today's post our goal is to help solve this problem by organizing a list of the most popular menu concepts we've seen executed well on food trucks in recent years. In our 15+ years in business, we've had the opportunity to help hundreds of food entrepreneurs launch their own mobile businesses each of these concepts on our list have produced numerous successful businesses for our customers. Often, if you want to be successful in the food industry you don't need to have the most [...]
Three Types of Food Truck Blueprints with Examples
There's a lot more that goes into the planning and manufacturing a food truck than most people think. Take for example the layout and installation of the cooking equipment inside the truck. As a straight-forward example, a tater tot truck would need to make sure they had deep fryers, a fridge to keep product cool, and a prep station to add all the yummy toppings like sour cream or chives. Another satisfied customer of Smokin' Bull Shack. Built by M&R Specialty Trailers and Trucks. But having the tater tot equipment is installed in the food truck is not [...]
Do the Cottage Food Laws Apply to Food Trucks?
In 2013, a bill passed called the cottage food laws. These laws made it legal to sell small amounts of food using a home-based kitchen. While not all types of food businesses can be opened with the help of a cottage food law, the new law could create opportunities for you as a food truck vendor as well. The cottage food industry is continuing to grow. In a nutshell the cottage food laws were created to make it easier for micro-food businesses to get started. At the time of writing the maximum gross revenue a cottage food business [...]
Should Your Food Truck Use UberEats for Meal Delivery?
The technology transportation company Uber has already disrupted the taxi and transportation industry. Previously, taxis could charge pretty much whatever they wanted, provide bad customer service, and still operate a profitable business. That was until companies like Uber and Lyft entered the space, bringing in not only price competition but usually faster and better service. Now, Uber has its sight set on disrupting home food delivery the same way they did transportation. If you're not familiar with the Uber, here's how the platform works. An Uber customer will download and app to their phone and create a profile that is [...]
Can You Install a Bedroom in a Food Truck or Concession Trailer?
At M&R Specialty Trailers and Trucks, we've been contacted to build all kinds of unique features into a mobile food unit including a bedroom and bathroom. From a build standpoint installing both a comfortable bedroom and functional bathroom is simple as a food truck has many similarities to an RV in terms of plumbing and electric. The addition of a bedroom can make a concession trailer a lot more comfortable to operate as well if you're planning to travel to different events throughout the summer or are participating in a competitive BBQ circuit. Having a place to rest within the [...]
What are the Most Common Food Truck Floor Plan Sizes?
What floor plan is right size for you? In this guide our goal is to outline the most commonly used food truck floor plan sizes and demonstrate the pros and cons of each. The ideal floor plan for you will depend largely on a combination of these three factors including: local laws, menu, and personal needs. Ready to find the right layout for your unique situation? Read on. Local Legal Requirements If you're just beginning the food truck research process, you may soon discover that your local health code requires your truck to be a certain size. One example is [...]