Summer is coming up, which means it’s food truck season. Food trucks can be an incredibly lucrative business and they’re poised to be especially profitable during the warm months of 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions loosen up and eager customers return.
Whether you own one or more food trucks yourself and you want to dedicate an entire parking lot to your business, or you’re simply renting out an existing lot to food truck owners, the quality of your lot can have a big impact on business.
Customers are much more likely to stop by a food truck parked on a clean-cut, flawless lot than they are a busted-up, disheveled lot filled with potholes and cracks. For those of you looking to update your lot to improve food truck business this year, it’s just not as simple as resurfacing your asphalt or concrete.
In fact, there are a variety of different materials and additional features you should consider if you want to maximize your profit. In case you’re looking to optimize your food truck parking, let’s go over 7 best practices that will set your lot apart from the rest:
1. Seating
It almost goes without saying, but you’d be surprised how many parking lots with food trucks in them don’t have any available seating for customers. Even if you own a different business and are simply renting out part of your lot to a food truck, having seating arrangements can go a long way to attracting food truck owners. Hauling in a few picnic tables should do the trick, but feel free to get more creative, as well.
2. Be Cool
Seating and shade go hand in hand. Nobody wants to sweat buckets in the hot sun while trying to enjoy their meal. If your seating doesn’t already come with patio umbrellas attached, try setting up a canvas or some pop-up canopies for people to sit under.
LAso, the surface temperature of your lot is important. Asphalt and concrete het super heated in the summer, absorbing the hot sun and raising teh temperature of the surrounding air. Use a gravel or grass filled permeable pavement like TRUEGRID and your lot temperature will drop dramatically. Be cool in the summertime.
3. Drainage
Not only will a proper drainage system prevent puddles from forming after a rain shower, it will keep stormwater from infiltrating and damaging your lot. Parking lot drainage can take the form of sloping the lot towards the road where water can drain into a sewer grate, or you could have drainage grates installed in the lot itself for a bit more effective solution.
Another excellent way to drain your lot is to build it with permeable pavers. This will allow water to drain directly through your parking lot and into the soil below, which is less costly than having additional drainage included in your food truck parking construction.
4. Build a Multi-Purpose Lot
A multi-purpose lot can be used for much more than just parking food trucks and customers. If you’re operating year-round, you want a lot that can handle all people and events.
Think farmer’s markets, Christmas tree lots, firework stands, outdoor movie screenings, and more. The best way to do this is by completing your food truck parking construction with materials that are unaffected by different types of weather and temperature fluctuations.
5. Permeable Gravel Pavers
Asphalt and concrete are prone to water damage, rutting, cracks, unraveling, potholes, and other common types of damage. Permeable gravel pavers, on the other hand, will suffer none of these issues and are perfect for food truck parking. Products like TRUEGRID PRO PLUS pavers are snapped into place over a pit of gravel, with more gravel being laid over the top and pressed into the empty cells.
The additional gravel locks the pavers into place and provides a smooth, stylish, and level surface for customers to drive on. The pavers are also 98%-permeable and provide a built-in drainage system, making for a high-quality lot that will last around 40-50 years with minimal maintenance.
TRUEGRID PRO and TRUEGRID PRO LITE pavers do not absorb sunlight like asphalt does, preventing the dreaded “heat-island” effect that afflicts so many asphalt lots. They also utilize permanent plastic markers for lot lines, eliminating the need for repainting.
6. Permeable Grass Pavers
If you have a grass lot, stabilizing it with the TRUEGRID ROOT paver system is the perfect way to optimize it for food truck parking. These pavers are installed by simply driving over them to press them into the soil. After two weeks, the grass will grow right through them and you won’t be able to see them.
You’ll have a grass lot that can handle vehicle and foot traffic without taking any damage. This is ideal for food trucks and lets people feel a little more connected to nature as they eat and enjoy themselves.
7. A Big Sign
Having at least one big, flashing sign that can advertise the food trucks to passing traffic is essential to drawing in as many customers as possible. You could opt for a digital sign, but a manual sign will work as well. Your sign can be situated on the ground outside the food trucks or installed higher in the air on a pole.
Use These Tips to Get the Most Out of your Food Truck Lot
Food truck success depends a lot on food truck parking. Whether you own a truck yourself or you want to rent out your lot to other food trucks, make sure to implement as many of the tips in this article as you can to maximize your success.
If you want to use the best material for building a food truck parking lot, nix the asphalt and contact TRUEGRID today for a quote on durable, stylish, eco-friendly pavers that are sure to impress.
