I own a truck in the New York City area. Here are some thoughts:
- There are plenty of opportunities to meet people when you are working the truck. However, those are on slow days. If you have time to chat with girls all day, you probably won't be around too long.
-FACT: You cannot travel across the country stopping in small towns along the way, selling turkey sandwiches to support yourself. You need health permits, vendor permits, a customer base who gives a shit about you, etc. And most of all, that would take some serious wear 'n tear on your vehicle AKA your ENTIRE LIVELIHOOD. Food trucks aren't built like Honda Civics. Expect to do a ton of maintenance.
-The hours vary - on a regular day, I get up at about 9 to prep my truck if I want to be on the street selling by 11am. I also worked about 40 hours over Memorial Day weekend for a special event.
-The microfame thing is real (if you have cool truck
).
-I agree that having a food truck alone is not a really great way to live -- it has to be part of a bigger goal. It could be a franchise, a brick and mortar restaurant, a spinoff product to be sold in stores (me), or some kind TV show/media presence (also me). If you aren't doing anything beside working a restaurant on wheels, have fun. It's far from easy.
-If your the new kid on the block and want to get famous, or even sort of popular in the city you operate in, it takes a shit ton of work. You have to have your social media on point. You have to be doing promotions with other businesses. You have to be friends with everyone in the whole community. And if you are a dick, even if you aren't working, some bitter asshole can ruin your reputation on Yelp.
-You don't have to work when it rains! But you also don't make money! And you can't go to the beach!
-It's terrifying to hire people to work the truck for you. The job requires customer service, cooking skills, restaurant management, cashier skills, and driving skills all in one. You can't hire some dip shit for minimum wage.
-Bad days are tough, but good days and satisfied customers are extremely rewarding.
Conclusion: If you want to be in a new state every day and bang girls while making piles of cash, join a fucking biker gang and sell drugs or something. If you want to slowly get your town or city on lockdown while working your ass off, maybe its something you want to look into.