In the first two parts of our series on how to start your own mobile food business, we covered basic business concerns and the costs intrinsic to running a food truck. In this final post, we’ll go over rules and regulations, at least those regulations found in Los Angeles County!
Permits & LicensesEvery truck in Los Angeles County needs a health permit to operate. Rental trucks should already have one, but if you had a truck built or bought a used one, your truck (or “mobile food facility”) will need to be approved by inspectors in the county’s Vehicle Inspection Program. After initial inspection, they’ll also check you out at your commissary to make sure your vehicle is clean, has working equipment and is actually being parked at a commissary. Lastly, inspectors will also visit you on the street, making sure you’re following food safety protocol.
In addition to having a health permit for your truck, the health department also requires that you have a certified food handler on staff. This is obtained by taking an approved food safety course, passing a test, and getting a certificate sent to you in the mail. Other things you’ll need to obtain are a seller’s permit (for sales tax) and a business tax license for the city or cities you plan to operate in.
RegulationsThe most frequently asked questions I encounter involve parking: “Where are you allowed to park?” “How long can you park?” “Do you have to pay meters?” The County of Los Angeles only has one rule about parking, and it’s actually a state rule. If a truck is parked for longer than one hour, they must have permission to use an appropriate restroom that’s within 200 feet.
Other than the bathroom issue, parking rules vary by city to city. In the City of Los Angeles, you merely have to follow parking rules as stated on the street signs (and you do have to pay the meters). Other cities have more stringent restraints. For example, Torrance has a limit of 15 minutes in one location. Santa Monica has a limit of 30 minutes.
Luckily there are organizations to help food truckers sort out these rules and regulations. The Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association (SoCalMFVA) provides support and a unified voice for this growing industry. The Loncheras Association (www.loncheros.com) has supported the traditional lunch and taco trucks in the past. And support is often needed, whether it’s legal backbone when other interests want to shut you down or encouragement from a community of fellow hard-working business people and food enthusiasts.
Before getting into the food truck business, honestly ask yourself if you can handle its unique challenges. With Frysmith, we typically spend 70 hours per week getting supplies, prepping food, driving to locations, trying not to get heat stroke, negotiating times to accept deliveries, emailing, planning our weekly locations, doing payroll, and a multitude of things that keep cropping up that we still haven’t gotten around to doing. And from what I gather from other truckers, that’s the norm! This business isn’t for people who want to make money quick. It’s for people who love food, have always wanted to own their own business and aren’t afraid to work their butts off!
If you have any further questions about food trucking that I haven’t answered in this series of posts or aren’t in the links below, feel free to email us at info@eatfrysmith.com. Happy trucking!
Part 1Part 2Links:
SocalMFVA
LA County Health Department Vehicle Inspection Program
Operational Guidelines from LA County Health Department (PDF)
Our SweetPo fries are made with Jidori Chicken from Mao's. It's cage-free, all-natural, local in LA, and considered some of the best chicken you can get in this country. It also costs about 3 times as much as factory-farmed birds. There's a nice article in the NY Times on the Maos and how their chicken represents a "great leap forward." And feel free to roll your eyes on that one.
Our Kimchi fries use Snake River Farms Kurobuta pork belly. It's raised on small American family farms with no additives. Kurobuta is a Japanese term for the Berkshire heirloom breed, which means that this particular pork has much more flavor than the standard pigs that were bred to be as close as possible to "the other white meat."
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