How to decide on a trailer for Food Truck

How to Decide on a Trailer for a Food Truck

Not sure how to pick a trailer for your food truck? Read this blog to get more info...

So, I wanted to cover the topic of how to pick a trailer for a food truck. After building the Green Joe Coffee Truck, I learned from a few mistakes. This article is to share the knowledge that I learned through the growing process.

I picked my camper based upon it's visual curb appeal. It was sexy. The little camper pops out to the eye and this was my main criteria. Boy, I wish I would have had this article...

Know your menu. Your menu will tell you about your equipment. Your equipment will tell you about the room you need, the weight you need to support and the supporting equipment you will need. Without your menu, it's going to be hard to move on. Let me elaborate: If you are planning on selling hot wings, then you are going to need a deep fryer and will also require a top notch fridge (because chicken can go bad). Deep fryer will need a large propane tank. All this is going to weigh a lot. You don't want this on some dingy axle that will break while your traveling the road. So, know you menu first.

Okay, you have your menu. Now what? Once you know your menu it's time to dig into you equipment. You will want to know: 1. Their dimensions 2. Their weight 3. Energy requirements...

Here's a spreadsheet I would use...

Once you have a total idea on the equipment, you can start to figure out your requirements for the trailer. Make sure you pay attention to the axle strength. I regret not doing this. I only have one axle and if that thing breaks, then my trailer will crack like an egg and I'm out of a job...

Other things that I didn't consider at the time was the material my camper was made of and how easy it would be to attach things to it. Since my camper is made of fiberglass, every time I attach a screw to the thing, I also have add two flat washers to make sure it doesn't cut into my walls. As you can see, this can be a pain.

The other pain in butt is trying to get something to stick to the wall. Glues don't work. I've been through every glue at Home Depot. I can't nail it. So, I'm forced to use the two flat washers/combined with a nut/bolt/locking nut. To make a long story short, being able to drill into the walls really helps.

Also, the corners of my trailer round. This makes it hard to place equipment directly against the walls. So, it lessens the points of contact with my equipment. Thus, I have to use more items to tie down my equipment.

There is a bunch of different trailers to pick from: Teardrop, Scamps, Travel trailers..

Armed with your worksheet, you can begin to hunt for the trailer. Craiglist, Ebay, and city auctions are great places to look for a trailer.

There are three major things I wish I would have thought about prior building my trailer:

1. My weight and dimension requirements
2. My axle weight
3. Ease of attachment

Here's a few questions for you guys!

1. Have you ran into any mistakes you've learned from?
2. How did you find your trailer? Did you get a good deal?
3. If you were to do it again, what would you do differently?

Tags: Trailer