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Dumb question: So you're working at one of these trucks for an 8 hour shift and chances are at some point you'll need to use a bathroom -- as the operator of th

Dumb question: So you're working at one of these trucks for an 8 hour shift and chances are at some point you'll need to use a bathroom -- as the operator of the truck what do you do?

dkrich 14y ago
I live in DC where these things are abundant because of the very strict building codes in downtown. Almost without exception they have at least two people working inside and the lunch rush only lasts for about 2 hours, tops, so that's really the extent of their work day. Which, by the way, this article conveniently leaves out- the major disadvantage of the food truck business- limited hours of service and limited maximum capacity.
- rprasad 14y ago
  Lol. The food truck business work day is much longer than 2 hours. The 2-3 hour lunch period is the primary window, but many trucks also do a dinner service for 2-3 hours. In addition to the service window, there's several hours at the start of the day dedicating to stocking the truck and prepping the food so that it simply needs to be cooked. At the end of the day, leftovers must be disposed and all of the equipment must be cleaned. Both prep and cleanup will take several hours: prep will usually take 3-4 hours, and cleanup will 2-3 hours. On top of that, there's the transportation time for getting from home base to the day's location(s). In L.A., most trucks operate out of a San Fernando lot, which means 1-2 hours transit time to get to their lunch spot. All told, the employees may get 8 hour shifts, by the truck managers and owners will be lucky if they work fewer than 12 hours a day. Sources: http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-atlanta-food-truck-mixd-up/Content?oid=5484599 http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-atlanta-foo... http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/blog/tag/nom-nom-truck/ http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/blog/tag/nom-nom-truck/ http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/6599/Food_trucks_A_day_in_the_life http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/6599/Food_trucks_A_d... http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/breaking-into-the-food-truck-industry-%E2%80%93-part-4/ http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/breaking-into-the-food-tr... Komodo, one of the grandaddies of the modern food truck industry, used to have a great post on this but it appears that they have deleted that post.
  - dkrich 14y ago
    I'm talking about the hours of service, not the hours of prep and cleanup. Prep and cleanup hours don't bring you revenue. In fact they cost you money in fuel and employee expenses. Food trucks may do a dinner service but there is no comparable continuous volume like there is during the lunch hour when there are tens of thousands of people with limited food options in search of food at the same time. With a restaurant you can prep and serve simultaneously. The ideal setup would be to have a restaurant sourcing a food truck to soak up revenue from additional corners of the city from a central kitchen location.

Dumb question: So you're working at one of these trucks for an 8 hour shift and chances are at some point you'll need to use a bathroom -- as the operator of the truck what do you do?

dkrich 14y ago

I live in DC where these things are abundant because of the very strict building codes in downtown. Almost without exception they have at least two people working inside and the lunch rush only lasts for about 2 hours, tops, so that's really the extent of their work day. Which, by the way, this article conveniently leaves out- the major disadvantage of the food truck business- limited hours of service and limited maximum capacity.

rprasad 14y ago
Lol. The food truck business work day is much longer than 2 hours. The 2-3 hour lunch period is the primary window, but many trucks also do a dinner service for 2-3 hours. In addition to the service window, there's several hours at the start of the day dedicating to stocking the truck and prepping the food so that it simply needs to be cooked. At the end of the day, leftovers must be disposed and all of the equipment must be cleaned. Both prep and cleanup will take several hours: prep will usually take 3-4 hours, and cleanup will 2-3 hours. On top of that, there's the transportation time for getting from home base to the day's location(s). In L.A., most trucks operate out of a San Fernando lot, which means 1-2 hours transit time to get to their lunch spot. All told, the employees may get 8 hour shifts, by the truck managers and owners will be lucky if they work fewer than 12 hours a day. Sources: http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-atlanta-food-truck-mixd-up/Content?oid=5484599 http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-atlanta-foo... http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/blog/tag/nom-nom-truck/ http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/blog/tag/nom-nom-truck/ http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/6599/Food_trucks_A_day_in_the_life http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/6599/Food_trucks_A_d... http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/breaking-into-the-food-truck-industry-%E2%80%93-part-4/ http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/breaking-into-the-food-tr... Komodo, one of the grandaddies of the modern food truck industry, used to have a great post on this but it appears that they have deleted that post.
- dkrich 14y ago
  I'm talking about the hours of service, not the hours of prep and cleanup. Prep and cleanup hours don't bring you revenue. In fact they cost you money in fuel and employee expenses. Food trucks may do a dinner service but there is no comparable continuous volume like there is during the lunch hour when there are tens of thousands of people with limited food options in search of food at the same time. With a restaurant you can prep and serve simultaneously. The ideal setup would be to have a restaurant sourcing a food truck to soak up revenue from additional corners of the city from a central kitchen location.