A swelteringly hot August day, on a quiet street anywhere in suburban America. The kids are too hot to even muster the energy to turn on the sprinklers, and the adults are losing patience with the incessant whines of “I’m bored,” as Summer vacation enters what feels like it’s 1000thday. The familiar tinkle of an ice cream truck horn is heard in the distance, and just like that, all of the bickering and activity stops; as the jingle gets closer, the kids start begging for a few dollars to buy a Rocket Pop, or a King Cone, or a soft [...]

Spring is finally here! If you live in the northern United States or anywhere in Canada, May is the month you can be certain no more white stuff will hit the ground until fall. In addition to warmer weather, it's the beginning of the busy season for food truck vendors. The spring and summer after all is when the annual outdoor events happen: outdoor concerts, food truck rallies, weddings, baseball games, farmer's markets. If your food truck has been locked in storage all winter, it's time to get the unit deep cleaned for service in advance of your first event. [...]

Whether you own and operate a mobile food business already or in the planning phase, coming up with a professional looking logo can be a challenge. After all, you've probably got all sorts of ideas for the menu and source of ingredients for food items. But coming up with a logo that accurately represents a brand isn't easy if you're not an artist or graphic designer by trade. Fortunately there are all sorts of new tools and options for ordinary folks that make the process of creating your brands logo easier and more affordable than they were 5 - 10 [...]

Summer is fast approaching. When we reflect on the summer season, we're reminded of baseball games, lazy summer days on the water, and of course ice cream trucks! If starting an ice cream truck is part of your summer plans we've got you covered. In today's post, we will help you build a specific vending route that will have you bringing in profits all summer long. This piece is based on our 15+ years experience working with customers starting ice cream trucks to shaved ice trailers and everything in between. In fact, if you sell just about any frozen summer [...]

Offering breakfast service on a food truck can be a major revenue source even though if regularly overlooked in the industry. In today's post, we evaluate some of the most popular breakfast menu ideas we've seen work in the A.M. so you can add them to your menu. One thing we want to point out is even if you don't plan to operate a breakfast truck exclusively, many trucks are able to adapt their menus to serve the most important meal of the day. Being able to change the menu for breakfast will open up all sorts of opportunities from [...]

Thinking about designing a food truck yourself? The good news is you've got options on ways you can approach this important project. Some of the options require zero technical knowledge or fancy tools at all, while others do require a certain level of experience. Without further delay, let's outline the options so you can choose the best route for your situation! Before we dive into the meat of this post, one thing most people don't realize is that when you create the layout for your food truck, you need to plan for more than just the kitchen area. Many chefs [...]

Are you required to get a Commercial Driver's License or CDL if you drive a food truck? In most situations, you don't need a CDL to operate a food truck. A standard Class D driver's license issued by the state you live is sufficient to legally drive and operate a food truck. There are of course always exceptions to this general guideline. We will spend the rest of the post exploring some of the rare situations where you might actually need a CDL to drive a food truck. If you're unsure, make sure you contact the Department of Motor Vehicles [...]

Happy 2019! The start of a new year always marks a time for reflection and looking ahead to the future. Some of the top resolutions you'll find each year is the goal to eat better and get healthier overall. According to a 2017 poll by YouGov, eating healthier is actually at the very top of the resolution list, tied with saving more money and working out. While eating better is a common goal it's not as easy to accomplish as you might already know. Eating consistently healthy meals means investing the the time required to meal plan, prepare and shop [...]

Why you should take Food Truck Classes. Running a food truck is just as hard if not harder than running a restaurant.  Would you start a restaurant without any formal training? Probably not, right? You should be taking training of some sort before you get started on type of serious business endeavor. There's literally no profession or real business you can start with a realistic chance of success. Would a dentist hang up their shingle without first attending school and acquiring the necessary certifications? We certainly hope not! But for some reason there are plenty of people that think they [...]

Before you roll your food truck concept out into the world, it's a smart idea to build out a tentative daily or weekly operations schedule. This is also referred to "daily service" by those in the industry. This operations schedule will give you a sense of the frequency you plan to work and the days you plan to take off for downtime. One mistake that beginning mobile food vendors make is that they don't build a plan of where and when they plan to vend. The other frequently made mistake is that they don't build out enough prospective locations to [...]