Like being independent, running your own business, choosing your own hours? Like working with the public? Maybe you dream of owning your own brick and mortar restaurant someday? With the help of Greensboro Mayoral Candidate George Hartzman I'll present you with a few facts and figures to help you make up your mind.
Cost of the food truck.
New: Somewhere upwards of $150,000
Used: $50,000 -- $75,000
Cost of fuel: Roughly $4.oo per gallon and don't expect better than 10 miles per gallon. 15 if you choose a diesel.
You'll need insurance on the truck, yourself, the business, your customers and no telling what else.
Most food truckers have to pay from $25 to $40 per 24 hour day for space to park and vend from their food trucks.
Currently, in Greensboro, North Carolina, to operate a food truck in Greensboro's downtown business district you must pay a $50 mobile vendor's fee and buy a $100 business license if you do not have one already. That and $20 a day will give you the right to sign up to be picked to participate in Greensboro's upcoming food truck trial run but you will be limited to 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 1 month as city leaders evaluate a plan many believe is designed to fail.
That $20 per session fee Greensboro charges only comes to $4.oo per hour. Of course, if you extend that to a full 24 hour day it comes to $96 a day vs the normal $25 to $40 food truckers usually pay for unlimited hours of operation.
In this week's memo from the City Manager, no one has signed-up for Greensboro's food truck trial run. Apparently food truckers don't think highly of the plan either.
Lots of great info in this great article on food trucks in Portland, Oregon.
