Starting a food truck in the US comes down to eight jobs, roughly in this order: choose the format (truck, trailer, cart or pop-up), design a menu a tiny kitchen can actually produce, write a plan with real numbers, buy or lease the vehicle, sign a commissary agreement, get the business, health, fire and vehicle paperwork through your city, county and state, line up places to park, and run a soft launch before you announce anything.
Most of the money goes on the vehicle. In an August 2025 guide, Square put a used food truck at $40,000 to $80,000 and a new one at $75,000 to $150,000, before the wrap, permits, insurance and the cash you need to get through the first slow months. The paperwork is what people underestimate: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Food Truck Nation study counted an average of 45 separate government procedures, over 37 business days, to start and run a truck for one year.
Below: US cost ranges in a table, the permits in the order you usually meet them, and a launch checklist. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by city and county, so confirm every requirement with your health department, fire authority and licensing office. Platevio does not file, issue or certify any permit or license.
Is a food truck the right format for you?
“Food truck” covers four different businesses. Pick the one that matches your menu, budget and selling spots.
Truck
Kitchen and engine in one vehicle. Drive up, open the hatch, sell, and park in ordinary curb spaces. It costs the most, and when the engine is in the shop, so is the kitchen.
Trailer
A kitchen you tow. Homebase’s December 2025 cost guide put a custom trailer at $15,000 to $50,000 plus $20,000 to $40,000 for the build-out, and you need a vehicle rated to pull it fully loaded. You can unhitch for supply runs, but setup is slower and parking needs more space.
Cart
The smallest menu at the lowest cost, usually assembly rather than real cooking. Rules for carts are often lighter. Los Angeles County, for example, has let carts (it calls them Compact Mobile Food Operations) be stored at approved private homes under a Home Storage Endorsement since March 2024. Its guideline for full mobile food facilities still says home storage is not approved.
Pop-up or market stall
A tent at a farmers market or event, usually under that event’s temporary food permit. It is the cheapest way to learn whether strangers will pay for your food before you spend five figures on a vehicle.
Concept, menu and business plan
Design the menu for four square feet of counter
A truck kitchen punishes a long menu. Every extra item is another container in a small fridge, another station, and another thing to explain at the window.
- Keep it short. Five to eight items is a sensible starting point, built from shared ingredients. A taco truck can run three proteins across tacos, burritos and bowls from the same tortillas, rice, salsas and toppings.
- Design for speed. Dishes that finish in a few minutes and can be eaten standing up, with one hand if possible.
- Plan for modifications. “No onions” will come up constantly. Choose dishes where the common changes are easy to make and to pass to whoever is cooking.
Then do the throughput math, because it caps your income. Say your window hands out one order a minute at peak and the lunch rush lasts 90 minutes. That is 90 orders at most, however good the food is. At a $14 average ticket, the rush is worth $1,260 at best.
Write the business plan
Our guide to writing a restaurant business plan covers the standard sections. For a truck, add these:
- A stop list. Where you will park each day of the week, the fee or revenue share each stop charges, and how many orders you honestly expect there.
- Commissary rent, fuel and generator fuel as fixed monthly costs.
- Seasonality. Which months you will sell less, or stop.
- Break-even per month. Fixed monthly costs ÷ (average ticket × share kept after food and packaging) = orders needed. Say your fixed costs are $6,000 a month, your ticket is $14 and you keep 65%: $6,000 ÷ $9.10 = about 660 orders, or 33 a day over 20 trading days.
How much does it cost to start a food truck?
These are US figures from published cost guides. Your actual costs depend on your city, your menu and whether you buy new, used or lease.
| Item | Typical US range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Used truck | $40,000–$80,000 | Square, 2025. Condition and included equipment vary widely |
| New truck | $75,000–$150,000 | Square, 2025. Homebase puts the top end at $200,000 |
| Leased or rented truck | $2,000–$3,000 a month | Square; WebstaurantStore. Leases can restrict layout changes |
| Trailer plus build-out | $15,000–$50,000 + $20,000–$40,000 | Homebase, 2025. Plus a tow vehicle if you lack one |
| Kitchen equipment and build-out | $15,000–$45,000 | Homebase, 2025: cooking, refrigeration, sinks, ventilation and fire safety, power, tech |
| Generator | $500–$3,000 | WebstaurantStore. Homebase puts power at $2,000–$6,000 installed |
| Wrap | $2,000–$8,000 | Homebase. A partial wrap is $1,500–$3,000 (Zion Foodtrucks) |
| Permits and licenses, first year | $1,000–$30,000+ | Homebase. Varies more than any other line |
| Insurance | about $42/month general liability; $170/month commercial auto | Insureon median prices, updated October 2024 |
| Commissary | $250–$750/month; $1,000–$1,250 in LA or NYC | Roaming Hunger. Shared kitchen time $10–$35 an hour |
| POS and tech | $1,000–$3,000 | Homebase. Software can be free; the card reader is separate |
| Initial inventory | $1,000–$2,000 | Square. Homebase says $1,500–$4,000 |
| Working capital | Several months of fixed costs | Homebase puts monthly operating costs at $2,000–$10,000+ |
Here is how the table adds up for one example truck. Say you buy a used, already fitted truck for $55,000, spend $8,000 on repairs and equipment upgrades, $3,500 on a wrap, $2,500 on permits and plan review, $2,500 on a generator, $650 on three months of general liability and auto insurance, $1,000 on a commissary deposit and first month, and $1,500 on opening stock. That is $74,650 before any cushion. Add three months of working capital at $6,000 a month and you need about $92,650.
For the software line specifically, our restaurant POS cost breakdown covers what vendors charge for and what they leave out.
Financing
- Savings and family money. Also the money you can least afford to lose, so size it to the plan.
- SBA microloans go up to $50,000, with an average of about $13,000, a maximum term of seven years and interest generally between 8% and 13%. They are made through nonprofit intermediary lenders, and they can pay for equipment, inventory and working capital but not existing debt.
- Equipment and vehicle financing, sometimes arranged through the builder or dealer, is secured against the truck itself.
- Lease-to-own agreements, which WebstaurantStore describes as needing a larger initial payment than a standard lease, build toward ownership.
Licenses and permits for a food truck
There is no single “food truck license.” The SBA’s guidance applies directly: the licenses you need from the state, county or city depend on your business activities and your location. Expect most of the following, roughly in this order.
- Business registration and a local business license. Register the business entity with your state, then get a business license from your city or county. Los Angeles County’s guideline tells mobile operators to get business permits from the local city hall or county business license office before operating, and warns that cities may restrict food sales from vehicles.
- An EIN. You get it from the IRS, and you need it to hire employees or run a partnership or corporation. It is free: the IRS warns against websites that charge for one. If your state taxes prepared food, register with the state revenue department before your first sale.
- Food safety certification. Los Angeles County requires at least one owner or employee to pass an accredited food safety exam, valid for five years. Austin requires a Certified Food Manager for each business, and food handler training for staff within 60 days of hiring.
- The health permit, with plan review and inspection. This is the core permit, and it covers the vehicle as well as you. Los Angeles County reviews equipment specification sheets, surface finishes and the plumbing layout, and requires at least 5 gallons of water just for handwashing. The permit lists the vehicle’s license plate. Get plans approved before you build or modify anything.
- A commissary agreement. Most jurisdictions require a licensed base kitchen where you prep, store food, get water and dump wastewater. Los Angeles County will not issue a permit until it has verified the commissary and wants a written statement signed by the commissary owner. Chicago asks for a signed letter of intent from the commissary, dated within the last 30 days.
- Fire inspection and propane. The National Fire Protection Association’s food truck fact sheet calls for at least 10 feet of clearance from buildings, vehicles and anything that can burn, and for approved fire-extinguishing systems over appliances that produce grease-laden vapors. Propane cylinders must be upright and secured, checked before each use and leak-tested whenever connections change. Refuel only when you are closed, and keep generators away from the public. Some cities charge separately for the fire permit and a suppression system review.
- Vehicle registration, commercial auto insurance and the right driver’s license. Chicago requires the vehicle to be registered as a commercial vehicle, with proof of vehicle insurance and a certificate of insurance with limits of at least $350,000. Under federal rules you need a commercial driver’s license if the vehicle’s gross weight rating is 26,001 pounds or more, if you tow a trailer rated over 10,000 pounds in a combination rated 26,001 pounds or more, or if the vehicle is designed to carry 16 or more people. Check the ratings on the door stickers, and confirm with your state, since states issue CDLs.
- Parking, zoning and location rules. This is where cities differ most, and it decides where you can actually sell.
How much the rules change from place to place
| Place | What stands out (as of 2026) |
|---|---|
| Chicago | Mobile Food Preparer license $1,000, Mobile Food Dispenser $700, both for two years; fire safety permit $100 and suppression system review $150. No parking within 200 feet of a street-level restaurant’s main customer entrance (except 12–2 a.m.), a 4-hour limit per block, and a working GPS device in every truck |
| New York City | The number of mobile food vending permits is capped by law and allocated from waiting lists. You can apply only when the health department contacts you. A full-term permit for a unit that prepares food costs $200 for two years and requires a supervisory license |
| Los Angeles County | Fees and permit categories were restructured on March 6, 2024. Trucks that stop for more than an hour must be within 200 feet of an approved toilet and handwashing facility |
| Texas (Austin) | Since July 1, 2026 the state health department (DSHS) issues one mobile food vendor license for all of Texas, at no more than $150 per vehicle plus inspection fees. Cities can no longer require their own vendor permit but still control fire safety, zoning, locations, hours and parking. Austin still lists a central preparation facility contract, a restroom agreement and a fire inspection |
On timing, the Food Truck Nation study found the government side alone averaged 37 business days across the cities it studied. Start the paperwork before the truck is finished, not after.
Finding locations, staffing and running the day
Where trucks trade
- Recurring private stops. Breweries without kitchens, office parks, apartment complexes and hospitals. Chicago lets trucks trade on private property with the owner’s written permission, within its zoning rules. Get the terms in writing everywhere.
- Events and festivals. Big days, but expect a vendor fee and a crowd that arrives all at once.
- Food truck parks and markets. Predictable foot traffic in exchange for rent.
- Catering and private bookings. Weddings and company lunches give you guaranteed revenue on quiet weekdays.
Keep a stable weekly rotation, so regulars know where to find you. Track orders per stop and drop the weakest after six weeks.
Who you need
Plan for two people at minimum during service: one on the window and payments, one cooking. Check every staff member’s food handler requirement, and remember that payroll means an EIN and usually workers’ compensation insurance, which Insureon’s food truck customers paid a median $78 a month for as of October 2024.
The working day: prep, power and water
- Before service: prep at the commissary, fill fresh water, load and log stock, check propane connections, and drive a route you have already timed.
- Power: add up the wattage of everything that runs at once and size the generator to that. Some cities limit generator noise, which affects where you can park.
- Water and waste: carry enough fresh water for handwashing and the day’s cooking, and empty wastewater only at approved facilities.
- Connectivity: your card reader and most order software need a signal. Test it at each stop, at the hour you trade.
- After service: clean, restock and store at the commissary, and note what sold out.
Marketing and your launch checklist
Marketing that works for a truck
- The wrap is your sign. Name, food and a handle you can read from across a parking lot.
- Post the week’s schedule every week, at the same time, on the channels your customers use, and keep your map listing current.
- Soft launch first. Serve friends, neighbors or one friendly host before a public opening, so the first public rush is not your first rush.
Launch checklist
- Concept, menu of five to eight items, and prices tested at a pop-up or tasting.
- Business plan with a stop list and break-even orders per day.
- Business entity registered, EIN obtained, local business license applied for.
- Health department plan review approved before any build-out or modification.
- Commissary agreement signed.
- Truck bought, leased or built to the approved plans; wrap ordered.
- Food safety certification for the owner or manager; food handler cards for staff.
- Fire inspection passed; suppression system and extinguishers serviced; propane checks documented.
- Vehicle registered, commercial auto and general liability insurance in force.
- Health permit issued and posted in the truck.
- Parking and zoning rules confirmed for each planned stop; written agreements with hosts.
- Card reader, order-taking software and printer tested; signal checked at every stop.
- Opening inventory bought; working capital in the bank.
- Soft launch done; public schedule posted.
Common mistakes in the first year
- Buying the truck before the plan review. A truck built for one county’s rules can need changes to pass in another. Show the health department what you intend to buy first.
- A restaurant-length menu. It slows the window, fills the fridge and increases waste.
- No cash cushion. Weather, a cancelled event or a week in the repair shop happen to everyone. Without working capital, one bad month ends the business.
- Counting on one stop. If a single host provides half your sales, you lose half your sales when that host changes its mind.
- Ignoring location rules. Parking distance limits, time limits and generator noise can close a stop that looked perfect.
Where Platevio fits, and where it does not
Platevio is a free restaurant POS that runs in the browser, and a truck is one of the places it is built for. On a truck it gives you:
- It runs on the phone already in your apron. Any current browser on a phone, tablet or laptop, with nothing to install. A second device for whoever is cooking is just another browser tab.
- Orders that never need a table. Take the order at the window and send it without choosing a table.
- A number on every order you can call. The window calls it, and the cook works to it.
- Extras and notes ride with the food. “No onions” is attached to the item it belongs to and reaches the kitchen screen with it.
- Keep the card reader you already chose. Platevio records how each order was paid, cash or card, but it is not a payment processor and takes no percentage of your sales. You still take the payment on your own reader.
- Receipts and kitchen tickets on your own printer, over WiFi, Ethernet, USB or Bluetooth, to ESC/POS and Star Micronics thermal printers.
- Free. No card, no plan. Unlimited orders and staff.
Connectivity is the big caveat. Platevio does not work offline. Orders pass through a server, so every device needs a working connection for the whole service, and nothing queues up to sync when the signal comes back. A phone hotspot works, but test the signal at your actual stops, at the hour you trade, before you rely on it. If your route has dead zones, choose an offline-first system instead.
It also does not do these things today:
- Every order is labeled Dine-in. There is no takeaway order type yet, even for orders with no table.
- Nothing customer-facing. No pickup screen, no text when an order is ready, no QR menu.
- No online pre-orders and no delivery apps. Your crew takes every order at the window.
- No inventory and no sold-out switch. When something runs out, you remove or rename it on the menu.
- One truck at a time. A second truck is a separate restaurant, and switching between them means signing out and back in. There is no fleet view.
If that fits your route, the food truck POS page walks through an order from window to hand-off.