Truckin'

Will Food and Gas Costs Start Sweeping The Streets of Food Trucks?

Photo: Hadley Tomicki

By now we know that the road to running a food truck is fraught with just as many pot holes as the ones we drive on every day. There’s the mechanical failure, the bulldog politicians who don’t understand you, tricky parking situations, and ever-growing competition. Southern California’s gas prices, (currently the nation’s second highest at well over four dollars) as well as the world’s rising costs for food, are adding a new squeeze to the industry, KABC reports while taking a look at the current trials of The Dosa Truck and India Jones Chow.

Dosa owner Leena Deneroff says these two factors are affecting the way she does business, with she and her partners now reluctant to travel far unless there’s a big festival with deep wallets. David Hutchon, the owner of India Jones, agrees, “We try to keep on the West Side where a lot of people know us and we don’t really have to drive that far.”

Right now, food and gas prices are nibbling at The Dosa Truck’s bottom line, and no one seems quite sure what to do about it. Deneroff says the increased cost is dashing the whole convenience and point of food trucks, offering, “The whole idea is we’re supposed to be an affordable street food…People can get a lunch combo here for $10, they get three items. I can’t raise that to $12 or $13.”

Recently, we’ve seen a few food trucks take the cash they’ve raised on the road and made a run at brick-and-mortars, with Komodo, Frysmith, and Flying Pig securing their success by opening actual restaurants. Might gas and food prices finally do what many members of the city council have attempted and sweep the streets free of the truckin’ trend? Stationary food court lots again seem like the best solution for ensuring the survival of food trucks that don’t yet have brick-and-mortar bread.

Food truck feel pinch of gas, food prices [KABC]

Will Food and Gas Costs Start Sweeping The Streets of Food Trucks?