So you’re starting a food truck business? There are a lot of decisions to make before you’re up and running. Besides the branding, equipment, supplies, and menu, you will also need to consider the environment within the truck. What type of layout do you need to fulfill your food production dreams? And what type of flooring will keep you safe as you produce those culinary masterpieces?
Building a Food Truck 101: The Layout
Even the most spacious food trucks are still small compared to a typical restaurant kitchen. You’ll want to optimize your food truck’s tight spaces to achieve maximum functionality. When choosing your truck size, you should also allow for future expansion as your food truck business grows.
Optimize your storage
You can’t feed hungry customers if you’ve run out of food or supplies! Optimizing your storage possibilities will help prevent such a catastrophe. Vertical storage offers several advantages to a food truck operator.
- It improves the ergonomics of your space by reducing bending
- It increases the accuracy and ease of managing your inventory
- It improves efficiency because everything is easy to see and grab
Opt for multi-purpose cooking equipment and appliances
When space and money are both tight, you want to save as much of each as you can. You can do that by choosing equipment and appliances that can serve more than one purpose.
- Multi-purpose equipment saves space over having a separate appliance for every task
- It will also save you money while outfitting your food truck since you’ll be purchasing fewer pieces of equipment
Building a Food Truck 101: The Flooring
Kitchen floors are often slippery due to splashing water and spilled food or drinks. Non-slip flooring will help prevent dangerous slips and falls. Slip-resistant rubber flooring maintains its slip resistance even when it’s wet.
Unlike popular metal plate flooring, rubber flooring is installed in one piece so there are no seams to collect moisture and eventually rot out the underbelly of your prized food truck! Rubber flooring is also extremely durable and easy to keep clean so it’s a great choice for food truck flooring. It costs about as much as metal flooring but has an odor that some people might find objectionable.
Anti-fatigue rubber mats are great for reducing stress on your feet and legs during a long day of cooking. They’re shock-absorbent and easy to clean but aren’t as good-looking as other options and they also have that ‘rubbery’ odor.
Metal tread flooring is also a good option as long as it’s installed correctly by experienced professionals. Just be aware that it will never look as pretty in use as it did on the showroom floor. Dropped utensils and spilled food will all literally leave their marks on that once shiny new floor.
Look for the following qualities in your food-truck flooring.
- Slip-resistance
- Durability
- Moisture-resistance
- Low maintenance needs
- Resistance against oil, grease, and chemicals
Let Us Help Get Your Food Truck on the Road
At Legion Food Trucks, we will work with you to design and build the food truck you want, using only top-quality, commercial-grade equipment. We build all of our food trucks with usability, quality, and durability in mind. Contact us to get started on your new food truck today!
