Tis’ the season for food truck and food trailer owners to get a much-deserved rest and break from the daily grind of the busy summer season. Unlike restaurants, chefs and caterers, who are well into the busy holiday season.
Unfortunately, this time of year has historically been when thefts spike. Thieves have to buy Christmas presents too, right? Here are some tips to help avoid becoming a victim of theft in your food business.
Lighting
When you are not able to secure property in a closed off or secure area, lighting is a great tool to deter would-be thieves! Lights help increase the chance someone will see a theft. That reason alone is enough for thieves to move on to their next target.
Parking near overhead lights works great, but if that is not an option, this Solar LED light with Motion Sensor can easily be installed and a great way to illuminate the area around your property.
Locking up
It’s good business practice to let customers know when you are open or closed, but that makes it easy for thieves to know when you are not around! Locking up is a good first step, but a determined thief that knows he has time when you are away might have tools to bypass basic locks.
A client of Insure My Food, Matt with Las Abuelas, recommends using a Shackle-Less Padlock like the ones found here on Amazon. By not having an exposed shackle it makes it impossible for bolt cutters to be used.
For food trailers, hitch locks are a must. While they might not be bulletproof, they are important! Yes, a lock can be forcefully removed or the thief could use a flatbed tow truck to bypass the hitch, but for under $30 dollars it’s well worth the investment and enough to give a thief a reason to move on.
For food trucks, a steering wheel lock is a great idea. Most of the step van trucks used to build food trucks date back 20-30 years ago. They lack the update ignition protections that modern vehicles have. This makes it easy for thieves to hotwire and drive off with your truck.
Make some noise
Noise is a great way to draw attention to your property so others around look and know something is not right. Sounds can be very annoying, as Jim Carey taught in Dumb and Dumber.
Alarms that are loud and also report to a monitoring service are great but can require a constant internet or phone connection and that can be difficult for a mobile food vendor. They require a monthly service cost increasing your business costs. If the connection or the cost is prohibitive, having an audible alarm is inexpensive (GE makes a wireless door alarm for under $12) and an effective solution.
Cameras
Visible cameras protecting your business let crooks know they’re being watched and are very helpful in deterring theft. Cameras help you review suspicious activity so that you can be proactive prior to a theft occurring.
Trackers are a great way to keep tabs on your property, but they do require a monthly subscription for services. GPS trackers are also not a replacement for other theft prevention practices because they only help when your entire truck or trailer is moved offsite.
Take cash to the bank
Having a lot of cash attracts attention not only from outside threats but from employee theft as well. Making frequent trips to deposit cash and never leaving cash overnight is a great step to limit theft of your hard earned money. Hope of Emoji’s Grilled Cheese took it a step further and now only accepts credit and debit, eliminating the risk altogether. She states that she has had very little pushback from customers.
With a little effort and investment, taking the some of all of the above steps will go a long way in reducing the risk of becoming a victim of a grinch during this season. Check out our loss prevention blog post for more tips on How To Protection Your Food Truck’s Bottom Line.
Want an insurance quote? Click here or give us a call at (800) 985-7859.
If you are not convinced you need proper insurance for your mobile food business, let me share 7 reasons why you should think again!
1) It’s the law. States require all vehicles on the road to carry insurance, even if you do not plan on moving around much, you are required to have auto insurance on a food truck.
2) Opens up opportunities. Without a general liability policy on your food truck, events, landlords, and commissary kitchens won’t work with you. <link to AI blog>
3) Sound risk management and peace of mind. If you invest thousands into your food truck and countless hours building your business you don’t want to see it end in a split second from an accident or theft. Check out our blog on Loss Prevention for a handy checklist to keep your business protected.
4) It’s socially responsible. The last thing you want to do is injure someone or damage their property with no way to help. Insurance provides a means to compensate others for accidents.
5) Protects your employees. Employees are often like family (or ARE family), and Workers Comp insurance compensates them and pays medical bills if they are injured doing their job. Still not convinced? We wrote a whole post on the disadvantages of not having Workers Comp Insurance.
6) Legal fees paid for. Insurance companies pay attorney’s fees for insurance claims on your behalf. Even for frivolous claims.
7) Protection for your assets. Accidents happen. Without insurance, your assets and your business are on the line.
Insure My Food offers affordable insurance made easy for food trailers, food trucks, and mobile food vendors. We offer a one-page quick quote form, or check out our other blogs for more tips!
So you’ve decided that you are going to open up a food trailer or food truck in San Antonio. Congratulations! We have created a basic outline to help you with the necessary steps needed to open up your business. Although the outline is intended specifically for mobile food vendors in San Antonio, TX, the process and regulations are often similar in different cities and states. You can use this outline for starting either a food truck or food trailer.
Step 1: Filing a Limited Liability Company For Your Food Trailer
It is very common for foodservice businesses to form an LLC. You can find out more info here.
Step 2: Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit
Before you can receive your Mobile Food Vendor Permit you will need to have a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit. You can find out more information here.
Step 3: Do Your Research and Join the SAFTA
The San Antonio Food Truck Association is a coalition of trucks working together for the betterment of the mobile food community. Look into joining and also look for owners who may be willing to mentor you or share their experience working within city limits.
Also, the City of San Antonio has a helpful page on gathering the items you’ll need for your mobile vending business by category. Current regulations for the city are also listed here.
Step 4: Buying a Food Trailer or Food Truck
Although you may be able to find good deals on Craigslist for used food trailers or food trucks, there are also many great food trailers and food truck builders in Texas! One benefit of buying a newly manufactured food trailer is that the builders are usually knowledgeable about requirements to pass a City of San Antonio Health and Fire Inspection. You will also have peace of mind knowing that all of your equipment is new and not damaged or aging.
Step 5: Buying Insurance for Your Food Trailer or Food Truck
We recommend purchasing $1,000,000 worth of liability insurance and property coverage on your food trailer or food truck as soon as you purchase so that you are immediately protected from accidents or theft. We have two helpful blogs that dive deeper into your coverage options:
TIP: Many landlords require you to have $1,000,000 worth of general liability insurance before they will let you sell food on their property.
Step 6: Registering Your Food Trailer or Food Truck with the DMV
Before you can apply for a Mobile Food Vendor Permit, you will need to register your trailer with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles here.
Step 7: Get Your Food Managers Certification For Your Food Truck
In order to pass your health inspection, you will need your Food Managers Certification displayed inside of your food trailer. You can find out more information and testing options here.
TIP: We suggest paying a bit extra to have your Food Managers Certification stay valid for 5 years because the class takes a full workday day to complete.
Step 8: Get Your Background Check
Request your background check at SAPD Records Unit at 214 W. Nueva (8 am – 4 pm.) The fees for local, state and national background checks are $59.25, only cash or money orders are accepted as payment. You will receive a response BY MAIL after the local and DPS background checks are completed (4 – 6 weeks.) This statement will remain valid for 90 days from the issue date.
Step 9: Set Your Appointment for Inspection
This is the packet that you will need to submit to the Health Department before they will inspect your food trailer or food truck and issue you a Mobile Food Vendor Permit. Mobile Vending inspections are done on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment. Appointments may be made by calling 210-207-8853. Inspections will be conducted at a site designated by the vendor (must be in City of San Antonio limits and not residential property).
In order to pass inspection, you must find a Central Prep Facility to use. Many food trailers and food trucks use their CPF strictly to dump grey water, get fresh water, and dump grease.
There are currently seven approved commissaries in San Antonio that can issue Notarized Commissary Letters that will be honored by San Antonio Metro Health. Those facilities are listed:
Alamo Kitchens – 11825 West Ave, Ste 102, San Antonio, Texas 78216
The Co-Op SA- 11911 Crosswinds Way #305 San Antonio, TX 78233
Congratulations on passing your inspection and getting your clearances! You are now ready to roll. Be sure to check out the City of San Antonio’s website for all regulations that need to be followed.
TIP: Mobile vendors in residential areas can only operate from 7 am to one half-hour after sunset. In the months of June, July, and August, those units may extend their hours of operation to 10 pm.
Insure My Food was designed by an insurance agency that gets food trailers and food trucks
We understand the challenges and needs of your business and are committed to supporting the mobile food community.
Not only do we offer food trailer and food truck insurance in almost every state, we insure many types of mobile food vendors including concession trailers, food carts, pop-up vendors, street vendors, food stands, and catering trailers.
Contact Us for a free, no-obligation quote or if you have any further questions. From our small business to yours, we’re here to help you succeed!
No doubt, you have poured countless hours, and what seems like an endless amount of money to create your food trailer, concession trailer, or food truck business. It makes sense to protect those investments with a good loss prevention plan to prevent all those efforts from being ruined in an instant!
Loss prevention:
An often overlooked first step by many mobile food vendors…how do you prevent a loss from ever occurring?
This is a smart first step for savvy business owners. Insurance policies will have deductibles to encourage loss prevention and being shut down due to a loss is a huge burden worth avoiding.
1) Inventory your items. This can help recover stolen items and provide a guide to insuring for the proper amount. In the event a claim does occur, your preparedness will speed up the process.
2) Good lighting at night and visibility go a long way in protecting from vandalism and theft. Think solar lights, motion detecting lights, etc. There are also a plethora of inexpensive cameras/monitoring devices that are well worth the investment.
3) Take extra precaution in securing high theft items such as generators, cash, and computers. Keep them out of sight and secured when not operating.
Even the most cautious food trailer, food concession trailer, and food truck owners can suffer a loss. Unless you’re prepared to replace your truck, trailer, or equipment out of your own pocket, insurance is a smart way to transfer that risk to an insurance company.
1) Determining the proper value for your truck and trailer is step one. The amount you should insure your truck or trailer for is the actual cash value. In other words at the current value, not the value it would cost to buy a brand new truck or trailer. This total should include any equipment attached by bolt, pluming, or gas line. To read more check out our other blog post, What is the value of your food truck or trailer?
2) Your contents not attached to your food truck or food trailer are NOT covered by the coverage on your truck or trailer. These items can be listed under contents separately. If there are any items over 2500 in value, they will need to be reported to the insurance company.
3) Since insurance companies typically insure property at a specific location this can cause gaps in coverage for mobile food vendors. You want coverage for property that regardless if you are heading to an event or at your main location. The term used for property that moves locations is called inland marine insurance; it’s a must for a mobile food vendor.
4) If you upgrade or buy more equipment always notify your insurance carrier right away.
Common Mistakes:
1) Thinking your auto or home policy extends to your trailer for property coverage.
2) Having a policy that only covers you at the address listed on your policy.
3) Assuming contents not attached are covered with your coverage on the truck or trailer.
Insure My Food offers affordable insurance, made easy! We cover insurance for food trailers, food trucks, and mobile food vendors. We offer a one-page quick quote form. In addition, we created helpful blogs and resources just for you. Joel brings over a decade of insurance experience in helping you determine your proper food trailer insurance coverage.
We get the question asked every day…What level of food trailer insurance coverage do I need?
Listen, we know food trailer insurance can sometimes be confusing, this is such a unique industry! You want to find a great price, but also make sure you are covered! We created this to help you visually understand what food trailer insurance you need in order to protect your business. Nobody has ever regretted reviewing their coverage levels when preparing for a possible claim. It is important to put the time into learning about food trailer insurance before it’s too late!
General Liability Insurance
General liability protects you from lawsuits brought against you for injury or property damage to third parties. It does not cover auto related or employee injuries, those coverages are discussed below.
GL food trailer insurance coverage includes your products (food), your premise (slip and fall), personal injury/advertising injury (libel and slander), and property damage to others.
The best part about this insurance is it also covers the legal fees to defend such claims, even if it’s found you were not at fault!
It is smart to have this coverage since we live in a sue crazed world. Also, it is often required to do business with most landlords, vendors, and commissary kitchens.
Common coverage limits in the industry are 1 million per occurrence, 2 million aggregate (total claims per year).
To read more about general liability for food trailers and food trucks see our blog post:
For vendors such as food trailers, concession trailers, food carts, pop-up vendors, street vendors, food stands, and catering trailers you will need to speak with your personal auto carrier on if you can keep that policy or if you will need a commercial auto policy.
Either way, you want to make sure you are covered for injury or property damage to others if you cause an accident while driving.
The auto liability applies once you attach the trailer and start moving. Once you park, detach and start operating your mobile food business, the general liability takes over.
Workers Comp
Workers Compensation Insurance or worker’s comp as it is commonly known pays wage replacement and medical benefits to employees if they are injured. In many states, it’s required by law to carry workers comp and others optional.
To read more on workers comp insurance, check out our blog post:
For example, umbrella insurance is excess coverage above and beyond your limits of general liability or auto liability insurance. This coverage is often required by large contracts.
Food spoilage is another optional coverage that can pay for your spoiled food. However, beware that deductibles are often 500 or more, and many food trailers will hold about equal to the deductible.
One of the best additional coverages in my experience is the loss of business income due to an insurance loss.
Often times, even when you suffer a covered claim from an insurance loss, the resulting loss of income while you repair or replace your trailer. It will at best be a big hit to your income, or more likely put you out of business.
About Insure My Food
Insure My Food provides insurance coverage for many types of mobile food vendors such food trailers, concession trailers, pop-up vendors, concessionaires, snow cone stands, and more.
We are committed to providing our clients the highest quality insurance service combine with our industry knowledge and experience.
We have the knowledge and insurance carrier partnerships to help make the insurance process affordable and easy!
To request an insurance quote click here or call us at (800) 985-7859
Joel Paprocki, CIC, CRM, CPCU is founder of Insure My Food. Joel has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. He is passionate about helping food entrepreneurs navigate insurance and risk management with confidence. He holds all three top industry designations: Certified Insurance Counselor, Certified Risk Manager, and Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter. He has served over 5,000 clients in the food industry, including restaurants, food truck, cateriers, If you are looking for a reliable, experienced, and specialized insurance partner, please contact us.
A client of Insure My Food, Matt with Las Abuelas, recommends using a Shackle-Less Padlock like the ones found here on Amazon. By not having an exposed shackle it makes it impossible for bolt cutters to be used.
Cameras
Cameras
GPS
GPS
Joel Paprocki, CIC, CRM, CPCU is founder of Insure My Food. Joel has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. He is passionate about helping food entrepreneurs navigate insurance and risk management with confidence. He holds all three top industry designations: Certified Insurance Counselor, Certified Risk Manager, and Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter. He has served over 5,000 clients in the food industry, including restaurants, food truck, cateriers, If you are looking for a reliable, experienced, and specialized insurance partner, please contact us.