Pilot Programs

A few questions:

Are the food truck regulations and fees in your city fair and reasonable when considering:  the population of your city, existing local food options, regulations from neighboring cities, and the availability of viable public property and private property vending locations?

Are there areas within your city that need revitalizing and might benefit from the energy and foot traffic created by regular, daily or weekly food truck services?

Is your city interested in welcoming food trucks, but you need to make sure they won’t interfere with existing businesses, especially brick-and-mortar restaurants? 

Would your city like to better incorporate food trucks in special city-sponsored events?

Would your city like to become more appealing to a much wider range of food trucks?

Before passing any new food truck regulations, it might be wise to implement a Food Truck Pilot Program to help answer the above questions. A pilot program can allow for a temporary suspension of existing local regulations in order to empirically test proposed changes to code, fees, and/or approved vending locations. The data that we collect during the pilot program can help elected officials to make informed decisions.  

Term & Scope of Pilot Programs - The term and scope of a food truck pilot program can be adjusted to meet the unique needs and budget of each city. The best option is usually a 2-year pilot program. The first year is used to test a variety of proposed vending locations, test newly-proposed food truck regulations, test newly-proposed fees and/or procedures, etc…. After carefully reviewing data collected from the first year, the WSFTA will make specific recommendations to the City. The second year allows a full vending season to learn if the changes made following the first year are achieving the desired results. A more streamlined 1-year pilot program can be beneficial for cities with time or budget limitations. 

Regardless of the term or scope of the pilot program, it needs to be ready in January with an estimated launch date for late Spring.  This will allow the necessary time to set-up the program, create its webpage, design marketing materials, and start recruiting qualified local vendors.  Vendors who meet the program and regulatory criteria can start booking themselves to serve at pilot locations in early Spring. Prime vending season starts in June and runs through the end of August.  At the end of the vending season, data collected will be reviewed and a Pilot Program Report with detailed summary and recommendations will be presented to the city, prior to the end of the year. 

The Role of the WSFTA:

Establishing new vending locations: The WSFTA works with the city to plan and launch new food truck vending locations, based on program goals and objectives.

Consulting & Advising:  We provide consulting and advice to the city’s designated program manager upon request, without hourly consultation fees, for the duration of the Food Truck Program agreement.  

Vetting of Vendors:  We recruit location-appropriate mobile food vendors and obtain proof of all required state and local licenses, permits, and site-specific insurance prior to allowing individual vendors to participate at the program locations. Warning:  Failure to carefully vet participating vendors could result in exposing the city to liability. 

On-line Booking:  We schedule qualified mobile food vendors for service on city approved days & times, and maintain an on-line calendar on our website indicating which vendors(s) will be serving on a particular day & time. The service days/times available for vendors to book themselves will be recommended by the WSFTA and approved by the city.

Resolving Problems:  We mediate any conflicts or disputes between mobile food vendors.  We can help vendors find last-minute replacements, in order to avoid cancelations or service delays. We’re careful to avoid booking vendors with menu overlap or repetitive week-over-week cuisine types. 

Marketing:  We Coordinate marketing and promotional efforts with the city, and promote the food vendors and vending locations via WSFTA social media accounts, WSFTA website, press releases, and other promotional materials such as posters and handouts.

Vending Instructions:  We ensure that the mobile food vendors are instructed on how to park appropriately and legally as illustrated on site plans, and will require that the areas surrounding the vending locations be kept in a neat, clean, and orderly condition, and that vendors are following the Pilot Program Terms & Conditions and City Best Practices.

Webpage:  We maintain a webpage for the City Food Truck Program, including program details for vendors, the public, and regulatory agencies.

Sales & Performance Data:  We collect daily sales data from each vendor, as well as overall performance data per location, including community feedback, and we provide this information to the city for periodic review and evaluation, either monthly or upon request. 

Code Guidance:  We make recommendations, based on data collected and years of experience, to amend the Food Truck Program guidelines, if necessary, and/or provide recommendations to amend city municipal codes to help achieve program objectives.

Other Ways to Utilize Food Trucks:  We can make recommendations regarding the best ways to incorporate food trucks in other city sponsored events or other programs.

Why Work with the WSFTA?

Experience & Cost Savings - An effective food truck pilot program can require a significant amount of time and resources. Cities that partner with the WSFTA benefit from our 10+ years of experience managing dozens of daily food truck vending locations and experience hosting successful food truck events of all sizes. It can be cost prohibitive for cities to reassign one or two employees solely for the creation and management of a food truck pilot program. These employees would need to get up to speed quickly on all state and local mobile food vending laws, as well as the local health jurisdiction (LHJ) and regional fire permit requirements. These city employees would also need to quickly build relationships with regional food truck operators and establish reliable means of communication. Alternatively, the WSFTA has the industry-specific knowledge and experience to create and manage a successful food truck pilot program for a fraction of the cost of one FTE city employee. We can even scale the scope and term of pilot programs to suit the unique needs and budget of each individual city.  

Previous Pilot Programs:  The WSFTA is proud to have advised and/or partnered with the following cities in regard to their food truck pilot programs:  Everett, Bellingham, Puyallup, Des Moines, Arlington, Auburn, and Bellevue. Could your city be next?  

Want to learn more about a possible Food Truck Pilot Program, specifically tailored to your city, contact us here.