Food trucks
creased competition, low profit margins and the sorts of municipal regulations that irk Bruellman.
“A lot of food trucks are disappointed, and much more so, the people are disappointed,” said the 46-year-old who in the spring launched a second food truck, Hotsy Totsy, which serves tater tots topped with everything from barbecued brisket to buffalo chicken and employs seven people. “Des Moines was on the map. We’re cool, and we’ve got food trucks. Then, it was, well, where are all the food trucks?”
The city of Des Moines could not be reached for comment.
But Iowa’s capital is hardly the only American city with less-than-hospitable rules or fees for wheeled eateries.
A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that Los Angeles food truck operators must move their vehicles hourly, aspiring New York food truckers can wait as long as 15 years for a permit, and Boston owners can pay as much as $38,000 annually in regulatory costs.
Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear the case brought by a Chicago food truck owner who contends the rule that food trucks must be 200 feet away from other businesses serving food is unfair.
And in March, after confronted by a federal lawsuit it seemed poised to lose, the city of Louisville got rid of an ordinance requiring food purveyors on wheels to be at least 150 feet from restaurants with similar menus unless the restaurateurs gave their permission.
23 trips to get permits
Three of his trucks have been broken into, said Kirk Francis, the co-founder of Captain Cookie & the Milkman food trucks that sell cookies and made-toorder ice cream sandwiches in the Washington, D.C., area. He cited the huge amount of paperwork D.C. requires food truck owners to fill out – a total the Chamber Foundation study put at 23 separate trips to local agencies to obtain permits.
Timothy Wilson of the district’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs declined to comment on the exact number of trips needed but said that due to security concerns, setting up a food truck business is more complicated than in other municipalities.
Regardless of what city it’s in, the food truck business has grown fiercely competitive. Francis, for example, has seen his lunch revenue drop as much as 50 percent over the past three years.
“It’s kind of ebbing a bit. We’re not going away anytime soon, but we’re no longer the hottest kid on the block,” said Francis, 32. “It’s just a normal food trend. Cupcakes were biggest thing ever for about five years. Then food trucks were greatest thing ever.”