Food truck running costs: your cost per service day

A food truck costs what its service-day expenses add up to (fuel, generator, propane, pitch, staff) plus each day's share of the costs you pay whether you trade or not: depreciation of the truck and kit, maintenance, insurance and permits. That total per service day is the number your sales have to cover before you earn anything. Insurance and permit costs depend on where you trade and how you operate, so you have to get those quotes yourself; this guide shows how to fit them into the sum.

Costs of each service day

These only appear on days you go out to sell. Take them from one or two weeks of receipts:

• Vehicle fuel. There and back from where you park the truck overnight to the pitch.
• Generator. Fuel, or the charge for hooking up to power if the site has it.
• Propane. If a tank lasts several days, divide its cost by those days.
• Pitch or parking. What you pay to trade at that spot, on private land or at an event.
• Staff. Wages for the day.
• Commissary, water, ice and cleaning. If you pay a commissary kitchen by the day, it goes here.
• Frying oil, if you fry, at the rate you change it.

Costs you pay whether you trade or not

These are the ones people forget, and they are the ones that sink a truck.

• Depreciation of the truck and equipment. The van, the griddle, the fryer and the fridge lose value as you use them. Take what you paid, subtract what you think it will be worth when you sell it, and divide by the years you expect to use it. The guide to equipment depreciation explains it.
• Maintenance. Servicing, tyres, brakes, generator and kitchen repairs. Use what you spent last year; with no history, set aside a fixed amount each month and correct it with your receipts.
• Insurance. Vehicle cover and any business or liability cover you need or events ask for. There is no general figure: ask an insurer or broker for quotes and tell them exactly what you do.
• Permits and licences. Selling from a vehicle on the street, on private land or at events follows different rules in each place. Ask your local council or city licensing office and the health department, and get the requirements in writing. The guide to permits and registration lists what to check.
• Overnight parking or storage, if you pay it monthly.

To turn any of these into a daily cost: amount per year ÷ service days per year.

How many service days you count

This number changes everything. Count the days you really open: if you trade four days a week and stop two weeks a year for maintenance and holidays, that is 4 × 50 = 200 days. If you trade fewer, each day carries more depreciation, maintenance, insurance and permits.

Worked example: a crepe truck

You run a crepe truck. A savory crepe with ham, cheese and egg sells for $9. Your variable cost per crepe (batter, filling, paper cone, napkin and card fee at your provider's rate) is $3.10, so each one leaves 9.00 − 3.10 = $5.90.

Yearly costs turned into a daily cost (200 service days)

Costs of each service day

Cost per service day, before insurance and permits: 277 + 33 + 15 = $325.

Crepes to cover the day: 325 ÷ 5.90 = 55.1, so 56 crepes, plus whatever insurance and permits add. Once you have the yearly amount P, add P ÷ 200 to the daily cost and divide by $5.90 again.

If you trade fewer days. At 160 days instead of 200, depreciation becomes 6,600 ÷ 160 = $41.25 a day and maintenance 3,000 ÷ 160 = $18.75. The daily cost rises to 277 + 41.25 + 18.75 = $337, and you need 337 ÷ 5.90 = 57.1, so 58 crepes.

This is the same daily break-even as any stall, with more lines. The difference is that on a truck the costs you pay whether you trade or not are much bigger, so the days you stay home cost you too.

Who to ask about what is not here

• Trading and parking permission: your local council or city licensing office.
• Food hygiene registration and inspections: the local health or environmental health department.
• Gas and electrical safety: ask the licensing office or event organiser which certificates they need, then a qualified engineer.
• Insurance: an insurer or broker.
• Events and private sites: the organiser or landowner, in writing, including whether they charge for power or take a percentage of sales.
• Tax: check your local tax rules or ask an accountant.

What this number tells you

With your cost per service day you can decide calmly: whether a $50 pitch beats a $100 one that sells twice as much, whether an event is worth its fee, or whether the truck earns more trading five days than four. The guide to street food profit puts this number together with serving speed, waste and weather.

Do it with the calculator

Get the variable cost of each crepe from the food cost calculator, then put your cost per service day into the break-even calculator to see how many you need to sell each day.