Food trucks can be booked months in advance, especially on weekends and holidays

When contacting the food truck, include all relevant event details, such as the date, time, location, number of people, and who is paying.

Understanding your budget can help save time and avoid headaches during the booking process. Many food trucks have minimum requirements to make sure they are not losing money to come to your event. The very least some minimums might be is $500 and some trucks have minimums of $1,500. Keep that in mind when booking a food truck.

Many food trucks have set menus, but some may offer customizable options or even create a specialized menu for your event. If you have specific dietary requirements, you can ask if they can accommodate them

Keep communication open with the food truck owner so you're both on the same page about the event.

No! Owning a food truck is a very time and resource intensive endeavour. There are long hours, tough schedules and you must be very dedicated. Food trucks do not have the traditional infrastructure that a restaurant has.  You typically can not get deliveries so you must source all of your own food from Restaurant Depot or another big box food store. This takes time. You must park at a commissary every night which is typically located in industrial parts of the city. Finding a place to park and sell can be a full time job. Lots, organizers and events do not have open door policies. It’s hard to find and develop places to vend and many organizers already have their favorite food trucks they like working with. Before getting into the industry, go to as many food truck lots, events and street spaces that you can and talk to vendors. The more you know, the more you’ll be prepared.

Allegheny County (and therefore most parts of western PA) has some of the strictest standards for building food trucks and carts. They require that all equipment in the truck be ANSI certified (or a similar form of certification). Most older trucks and out of state trucks do not meet the most recent standards. Please make sure that the truck you want to purchase meets all applicable standards before buying it. It’s best to have your the plans checked by a professional before buying.

Make sure that your food truck builder understands the requirements of the Allegheny County Health Department. Create a legally-binding contract that ensures that if there are mistakes and your truck does not pass inspection that the builder is responsible for whatever is necessary to bring your truck up to code. If the food truck builder has a deadline, make sure that there are financial penalties if the builder does not meet that deadline. For example, if the builder says June 1st, 2016, will be the day that the truck is permitted and ready to operate, insert a penalty for every day the builder is late, e.g. $100-$150 per day. Make sure that the penalty is attached to the day the truck is permitted, not to the day the truck is completed.

Ask to see other trucks the builder has done. Talk with those vendors if you can.

Make sure the commissary and the trucks being rented are permitted by the regional Health Department. Before agreeing to rent the truck make sure you have a rock solid agreement. Consider things such as: Who pays for the truck to be towed if it breaks down? If the truck isn’t working and you miss out on an event or a daily stop, who is liable for your lost revenue. If the truck continues to have mechanical problems making it hard for you to do business, is the lease agreement null and void (it should be)? What kind of security measures are in place to make sure there your truck is not robbed? If you are robbed, who is liable? Are there security cameras? Do they work? If they don’t work on the day you experience theft, who is liable?
Be sure to take detailed pictures on the inside and outside of the truck. Log all issues with the truck and the commissary/rental employees that you’re dealing with.

There are a few general commissaries you can rent from in the area but we recommend exploring your connections first. Churches and existing restaurants are great options if they have extra storage space and aren't using their commercial kitchens all the time.

Your menu matters!!! If your truck kitchen can not support your menu, the Health Department won’t give you a health permit. Make sure your truck kitchen can support the food you are making. If you’re ordering food to cook on your truck, make sure it’s from an approved source (meaning a licensed food facility). Having enough dedicated storage space in the commissary is also important to the Health Department.

We do not recommend getting your truck wrapped (the outside design or graphics) until your truck is permitted. You don’t want your truck to be rejected and lose the money on the wrap. Another good option is to find a muralist that can paint the outside of the truck/trailer.

Most areas in Allegheny County, and the surrounding counties, you can vend from the street. You’ll be subject to the same regulations that a car has (see below for exceptions).  But do you want to pull up just anywhere? Pittsburgh doesn’t have the foot traffic of a typical densely populated city. Finding places to vend sometimes takes work and a commitment to develop a location. The food truck areas that are currently popular with customers took years to develop. This means that trucks went to spots and developed followings over time. Developing a space can take weeks and months of making very little money. It’s important to have a customer acquisition strategy before getting on the road. The strategy should not be- “I’ll just go where all the other trucks go and try to get on to lots.” The industry thrives when everyone works to create new markets instead of just wearing out the markets already developed.

Only if an organizer approves you to be there.  If you’re a new truck why does an organizer want to work with you?  Have you gotten favorable press? Do you have a lot of twitter followers? Organizers work with trucks they know will make them look good. If you have no history or twitter followers there isn’t a lot of incentive for an organizer to work with you. Blazing your own trail in the beginning is the best way to ensure that organizers will want to book you into events and lots.

Research, research, and more research.  Running a Food Truck for Dummies by Richard Myrick is a great resource. The most important thing you can do is gather information. Start with with the “where.” Where will you operate your business? Allegheny County? What cities/neighborhoods? Do those cities/counties permit trucks? Do you plan on renting or buying? Call around to different commissaries, truck manufacturers, and truck rental companies to get quotes and information. If you are in need of legal services, such as formation of a company, contracts, and/or regulatory advice, we can recommend our attorneys.

Every food truck business is different, so it’s important that you get quotes from every truck manufacturer/renter, commissary and truck wrapping (the design on the outside) place you can find.

If you’re going to rent a truck, make sure your lease is rock solid. Don’t sign a vague one-page lease. Make sure to protect yourself with a rock solid lease that protects your interest. Think about all the things that could go wrong: Who’s responsible for towing if your truck breaks down? Is your renter responsible if you’re unable to do an event because the truck breaks down?

It depends. Generally, being licensed by the Health Department and having a business license in Allegheny County will cover you for the surrounding counties. However, some municipalities can also require you to get a business permit to operate your food truck in their area.