Food truck owners struggle with trailer costs
20 posts across 3 communities in the last 30 days; 90% from r/foodtrucks.
“Hi there, I posted my foodtruck business plan here about a week ago and mentioned it was going to be stationary in a shopping centre open parking lot. Many of you guys suggested towing it to markets and festivals which would be beneficial. The issue i have is that my SUV towing…”
“The order that saves people the most money: find out where you're legally allowed to park and sell before you buy anything. Not after. The truck is the fun purchase and it's the one everybody makes first, and then they discover their county requires a commissary agreement they…”
“It’s getting harder and harder to haul everything around. I think I need a trailer at this point. I don’t carry everything with me because that would be impossible…unless I had a trailer lol I figured the pull out draws would help but that got filled out pretty quick. Trailer…”
Several posts discuss the high cost of acquiring and maintaining food trucks, including trailer purchases, gas appliance installation, and unexpected expenses like GST.
SOURCES (60)
“When I was looking for a food trailer there was a 1970s airstream for sale. I’m glad I didn’t try to go that route though after learning about them - it is very expensive to build one out since they don’t have good walls/roof for…”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s holding you back from being able to take your cart or truck to other locations? If you can afford to continue operating out of a truck or trailer, I’d say stick with that route. I’ve been a pop-up vendor for 6 years, not by choice, but because I haven’t been able to afford a food truck yet lol. I’m hoping 2027 will finally be my year to join the food truck club! The reason I mention that is because loading and unloading everything after every pop-up gets incre”
“Is that $100K for just the trailer? I make custom trailers in GA but a pizza trailer would cost about $35-50k depending on the specifics”
“Everything is relative. If you are charging $15 for a plain hotdog or sausage ... GTFO. But good food demands prices that allow good ingredients.”
“Same. Profit margins are none of my business. If I think the price is fair, I'm gonna buy ... not sit there and go, "Yeah, but his propane bill is probably a quarter of what a restaurant pays. Oh, and he's got way less labor to worry about. Oh, and the insurance is cheaper. Oh, and his electric bill is way cheaper. Oh, and ..." My only concern: Is it worth it? I don't pocketwatch. Fuck all that.”
“When local supermarkets are part of a huge corporation they can sell products for less than a small business can buy from a wholesaler. That's why lots of small businesses buy from retailers not wholesalers”
“the formula is a bit much but i get what you're driving at. a lot of trucks seem to forget that volume part entirely, they set a price based on what they want to make per hour and then wonder why the line never comes back had a taco truck near my old apartment that charged 14 bucks for three tiny carnitas tacos and the meat was dry every single time. the owner would just stand there scrolling his phone looking confused when 12:30 rolled around and nobody showed up meanwhile the birria guy tw”
I haven’t sold a truck, but purchased mine on FB Marketplace.
“I’ve moved into a brick and mortar and want to just move to catering with a cart and get rid of my truck. Has anyone had success on specific websites or other means? submitted by /u/Metad0r [link] [comments]”
“DO NOT buy trailers from China. The do not customize to pass your county inspection. I have a friend who bought one from a “reputable company” and it was literally completely un passable. He would’ve had to start electrical, plumbing, and height of the ceiling from scratch. Not a good idea”
Thanks, this is great advice really apriciate it mate. I'm gonna take it and get some, maybe split the system between the van and the Trailer. Cheers
“I don't want to hire a driver. I want to pick a location and have thatvsucker back in and out and all that trailer stuff itself. For just the towing mobile, I think folks would easily pay 50k for it.”
“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! submitted by /u/ManaMontana [link] [comments]”
“That’s what happened. Brought the trailer from Mexico and finished a few things here.”
“Congratulations, and we can’t wait to follow your journey. Please keep us in the loop as we reached out to a Cuban truck in Connecticut before we opened and he helped us. We all have to help each other. We assemble the sandwiches on the truck. We have actually been running off of one waring press that can do four sandwiches at a time. The trailer can’t handle a second one without blowing the breakers. Once we figured out that sandwiches are moving really fast we’ve been able to pre-make at least”
“Everything. We went for a brand new trailer and they did everything as cheap as possible. I can easily give you a list of 30+ issues. We had the refrigerator fall onto the grill while driving. They used electrical wires that should have a 20 amp breaker, but they put 30 amp breakers so it overheated and started a fire. They never screwed on our faucet and it just fell off. The overflow pipe for the gray water isn’t even in the hole they drilled into the tank so it just spills. The water heater s”
Hello...can you tell me how your Reico trailer journey is going please? I am in the blueprint phase and am getting a little nervous about reviews online or lack of info...even though…
“Not enough to give you a cost estimate with the info given but I build food trailers and I would say drink trailers are probably one of the more profitable ones, the trailer itself will cost on the lower end because the equipment and interior requirements are just less costly for drink trailers vs cooking hot food, plus the margins are higher. So long as you have a good business plan and the will to do it sounds like a good idea”
“One of the trailers we built makes poutine. I follow their instagram and it seems to do pretty well. This is in the Southeast though”
“Yeah, that's the whole game with anything you rent out. The asset only pays when someone's in it. My trailers are booked most Saturdays and a lot of them sit Monday to Thursday, and I still haven't fully fixed that. If I were looking at an RV park, I'd call the parks already nearby and ask how full they are in the off season, not in July. If they're still turning people away in winter, that tells you most of what you need. I'd also look at what brings people there on a Tu”
“In Canada, owned a brewery already so started a food truck instead of building out a kitchen. We focus on fries so really good double cooked fries, poutine and other loaded fry ideas. We also added smash burgers cause if youre standing there all day and you have extraction fans for the fryers already, you might as well add some stuff to the menu. It’s a huge hit overall often times food outselling the beer side of the operation. It’s like anything you gotta have a few killer items that’s get peo”
“Also the business model of lifestyle has to be taken into account. Sure you have fancy titles for people. (Unnecessary) the question is just like for any festival/tent/foodtruck/mobile business… who wants to work those hours? Its 3-9 M-F and 12-9 Saturdays and sundays. March- October. Thats an awful lifestyle. You misinterpret who actually wants to do that?”
“I have a food truck. Its super convenient to be able to pull in and out. Its 24ft long and I can parallel park it in a 26ft space. But thats the only benefit. The cons outweigh the pros of a trailer. Dont get a food truck unless you're handy as fuck with engines/etc... Im in the PNW, so I only operate about 7 months of the year. I sold 200K this year and ebitda is about 100K - selling burgers and fries. The other benefit for us is how much product gets used for the home, but is purchased for”
“Benefit of a trailer is that you dont have to shut down because of mechanical issues that dont impact the food business. You can always swap tow vehicles in a pinch, but a broke down truck is stuck no matter what.”
“honestly the sponsor route is tough for a brand new truck with no track record yet, most local sponsors want to see you running and pulling numbers first. have you looked into a small business microloan or a local CDFI instead? those tend to move faster and you keep full control of the truck.”
“Me and some business partners are building a drink/pasty trailer from scratch. We're almost done with the build and we plan to start off the winter season selling hot cocoa. My business partners want to use Swiss Miss while I would rather use something of a higher quality. When I bring this up they always mention how much more costly using something other than Swiss Miss will be. My question is, does anyone who sells hot cocoa use Swiss Miss, or is there a way to dress up Swiss Miss to be mo”
Buying a food truck is like getting married. You'll know when it's time.
“You could get an old vanagon that would make a great coffee cart. Search on google images for vanagon coffee cart”
“Might be worth selling the car and getting one that can tow it. You could always rent but it gets expensive. U haul in canada is cheap like 20$/day. its iffy because the trucks get booked all the time and they are not very reliable on always having one available even when you call and book. Trailer definitely is cheaper than buying a drivable food truck so worth considering getting a larger vehicle.”
“IS 340 2007 is a very good starting point! I have a pizza trailer in north county Dublin, No fryers but happy to take any DM questions, I can help some but have no idea on coffee!”
“You listed griddle, double fryers and salad bar, what about fridge and places to store the racks of buns?”
“Good advice I heard…. If your truck breaks down, you’re down. You can always go rent a truck to pull a trailer”
“If you do this you have to be prepared to invest in something you may never see a complete return on investment for. It's expensive, and its hard to get money for a reason. I did this homework a long time ago. The short answer is that in-house financing is the way to go from a reputable used dealer/consignment dealer or builder. Be prepared to come up with a 20-30% down payment and have a credit score north of about 675 with a debt to income ratio of less than 51%. Used food truck vendor and”
“Hi there, I posted my foodtruck business plan here about a week ago and mentioned it was going to be stationary in a shopping centre open parking lot. Many of you guys suggested towing it to markets and festivals which would be beneficial. The issue i have is that my SUV towing capacity is 1500kg with brake system and my aim is to settle for a 4meter food truck with two windows and enough space to fit a 1200mm griddle, double fryers and a salad bar. After adding everything to the food truck whic”
“Take a piece of…something…mount it to the trailer…mount the shelf to that. This isn’t difficult…..”
“Does anyone have a trailer set up they sell bread from? I'd love to see you set ups. I have just purchased one for markets etc, it gets delivered next week. Just trying to work out the best way to set it up. Wether I still use my shelves to display outside or somehow try and display everything inside (curved back wall will make shelving tricky) and on benches. I only sell loaves, focaccia, and dry mixes at the moment. But will sell roughly 100 each market. Would love to see others set ups if”
“You can rent or borrow a truck to pull your trailer if yours breaks down, but you can’t rent a food truck. Learn to back up a trailer.”
“Trailer makes sense if you’re mostly parked at breweries or events. Truck is easier if you’re moving between spots.”
“I own both. Trailer is a little easier to work on becuz the inside is bigger. The only downside is that if you decide to do festivals or have to park somewhere tight you can get blocked in. Food Truck advantage is that you can get up and go. Also anything can break on truck and trailer so maintenence is key.”
“I bought a trailer from someone that in the last 10 yard line his wife told him to get out of debt so I bought at $50,000. Have to modify for my purposes so a other $15,000 for specialty equipment and bought a used pickup”
“I have a new truck, so no worries there. I also can’t find a trailer without a brick pizza oven for sale and they’re all $40k+”
“Well myself I'm going trailer 20’ selling kabobs (u have to buy a separate truck to pull it but if ur truck breaks a U-Haul will still pull it where as the food truck if u break down that's it till its fixed. But the negative side is more money to buy a reliable truck. In my case 2500 RAM”
Nowhere near worth that, you could get custom made brand new for that
“I’ve imported equipment through alibab, and the trailer can be fine while customs, wiring, gas, and local health-code work become the expensive part.”
“You probably poured your blood sweat and time into this thing. But if you are asking $300,000 for a used food truck, it had better come as a turn-key business with verifiable revenue streams totaling North of $700,000 annually. Anything short of that - I hope it has gold plated wiring, an engine that runs on canola oil and a briefcase with $200k in cash inside. I am just guessing what's inside because there's literally just a single close-up picture of a stove top burner and a single sho”
“Ill fully say I'm not from NYC. But like 300k? Genuinely how much is a food truck ruck + a permit? Let's even give a 50k adjustment for some special NYC permit???”
“If no one has looked at it, you may have it priced too high. Is it a truck or a trailer?”
“You a different trailer than the one that you posted in July? https://www.reddit.com/r/foodtrucks/comments/1v7tjkj/our_food_trailer_finally_arrived/”
“It's pure comedy. You look for a trailer with your specifications and you get five quotes: $20k, $22k, $22.5k, $23k and $5k. Then they wonder why the problems start.”
“All of the Chinese horror stories make me wonder if some of these people did any homework at all before they purchase.”
“I know that those trucks start at or around 150k that's just the truck and equipment.”
“I didn’t ask any of you about anything except how to attach the concession shelf because it has to be attached to the tubing. And on a concession shelf there’s four hinges”
“Ok. I’ll give you a pause then, but I want to see pics when it’s all kitted out. Better still, take progress pics as you go. Progress pics are great for two reasons. It’s fun to watch how someone else builds, and there are loads of people here with experience that might help make the build easier by catching things early”
“The margin on soft serve ice cream is huge. Do you have somewhere to keep a little trailer permanently? I'd rather spend the ~$50K to turn a cute little vintage trailer like a Shasta into a softserve ice cream trailer than give some 3rd party $5 from every customer.......”
“It’s pretty much a known thing. Why would you drive a food truck to a location for only 25 customers? Food cost, fuel and time, it definitely would be a waste of time. I wouldn’t move my trailer for less than a hundred guaranteed customers. I probably wouldn’t even do it for that unless it’s a good spot with the public able to get in and buy.”