We Got Wheels!

Exciting news: we found one! A local dealership has kept an eye out for a truck that would fit our needs. Last Tuesday, they found one that exceeded my expectations. It's a '96 International Diesel Step Van with 60,000 miles and a 15' box.

However, sorry for the delay with the updates. In order to keep my time schedule the truck had to be in Miami for the build-out by Friday (1/21), so there was literally no time wasted getting it there. Wednesday, I took possession of the truck, and Thursday at 9:00am I hit the road after 45 minutes of trying to start it. (If you'll remember, that night was in the 20's, and the diesel engine was not happy with working that early.)

After 24 hours of driving, 800 miles, one break down, and a shattered HTC Incredible phone I safely made it to Miami. Also, at about 3:00am the Florida Dpt of Agriculture was very interested in what I was supposedly doing to the truck. More importantly, they wanted to search it and make sure there was no suspicious cargo. As thin as he thought my story was, the officer reluctantly let me leave.

Maybe I'll stop by on the way back and reassure him that people actually do put kitchens in trucks.

Once down there, we designed a floor plan and overcame some challenges presented with such an unusual length of truck. Additionally, they're going to have it ready in half the time: 2 weeks. That's fantastic, but now we are going to bust it twice as fast to be ready to roll!

Big Things This Week

Over the last week or so I've been working on some (what I consider to be) big things. After all that work, I am really pumped to announce Grant Freeman has agreed to come on board and help take The Truck to the next level.

Since the beginning, I have said that I want this to be the best burger someone's ever tasted. Grant has some great kitchen experience notched in his belt: high profile chefs, over seas, and local establishments. That being so, I think he is going to be an asset in all areas of what we're doing, not just the kitchen. In addition to getting his arms around the menu, expect to see him commenting on Facebook, updating Twitter, and posting on this blog. And of course, you can always see him on The Truck come March.

Looking for a Truck

Happy New Year! Now that we've made it through the Holidays, I'm focused on finding a truck and locking down a beef purveyor.

Trucks come in many different shapes and sizes, and all of those options come on new* and used units. Besides Craigslist, there are two websites that I've found useful when looking for used trucks. First and foremost, Armenco is a food truck manufacturing company who also keeps up a decent list of used trucks. All of the trucks are for sale by owner, and Armenco has no control over options and prices. Lastly, Festivals-and-Shows.com keeps a huge classifieds-style list of trucks for sale.

Of course, there are other websites that have trucks listed, but they can be few and far between.

New trucks are produced all around the country, except for anywhere near Tennessee! It seems that if I want a new truck built, it's going to be a haul to get it back- either from California, Florida, or New England. Right now I am looking at two, which are in Florida: Concession Trailer Warehouse and Food Cart USA.

The budget I have laid out doesn't leave much room for modifications, so whatever I get needs to be ready to go from day 1; also, with a used truck comes more risk: mileage, equipment hours, and compliance with Health and Fire Department regulations. It's possible to work hard to save $5,000 just to turn around and have to spend $10,000.

*Note- A "new truck" is not actually a new vehicle. 99% of the trucks I have seen are built from a Freightliner truck that was used by FedEx, UPS, or another delivery company. The trucks are a new build-out with new equipment and furnishings. Used trucks have been food vendors in the past.