How Much Does a Food Truck Cost? Startup Cost Worksheet
Type what you expect to pay for the truck, equipment, permits and the monthly running costs; you get the total to raise and how many months your cash would last.
How to use the Food Truck Startup Costs Worksheet
- The amounts already in the form are round example values, not data. Replace them with your own figures.
- Optional: press a preset (“Example truck”, “Used truck, 3 months” or “Leased truck”) to load a starting set, then change any line to match your quotes.
- Enter each one-time amount in dollars: truck, trailer or cart; kitchen equipment; build-out, wrap and signage; permits and licences (first year); point-of-sale and card reader; opening inventory; launch marketing and website; other. Enter 0 where nothing applies.
- Enter each monthly amount in dollars: commissary or parking, insurance, wages, fuel/propane/utilities, loan or lease payment, other.
- Choose the months of running costs to keep as a reserve, from 0 to 120.
- Optional: enter the cash you have. Leave it blank if you have no figure yet.
- Read “One-time costs”, “Monthly running costs”, “Reserve” and “Total to raise”. With cash entered, also read “Months of runway after the one-time costs”.
- Read any warning. A negative or non-numeric amount, or a reserve above 120 months, shows an error instead of a result.
- Check the two tables for each line’s share of the one-time and monthly totals, and click the CSV button to download them for Excel.
Permit and licence fees depend on your city, county and state, so the worksheet gives no amounts. Ask your local health department and licensing office, then enter the figure in the permits line.
How much does a food truck cost to start?
A food truck’s starting cost is the one-time costs plus the money you keep aside to run the business. The worksheet adds the eight one-time lines into “One-time costs” and the six monthly lines into “Monthly running costs”. Every figure comes from the amounts you type, so the result is only as accurate as your own inputs and quotes.
The example values on the form, which you replace, give “One-time costs” of $83,000.00 and “Monthly running costs” of $7,000.00. These numbers are placeholders to show how the sums work, not typical costs.
How do you work out the reserve and total to raise?
“Reserve” equals monthly running costs multiplied by the months you choose. “Total to raise” equals one-time costs plus the reserve. The reserve idea follows the SBA startup-cost guide, which says to count at least one year of monthly expenses, and five years is ideal. You choose the number of months.
With the example values and 6 months, the reserve is $7,000.00 × 6 = $42,000.00, and the total to raise is $83,000.00 + $42,000.00 = $125,000.00.
“Months of runway” equals (cash minus one-time costs) divided by monthly running costs. It is never below 0, and it does not count any sales. With the example values and $100,000 of cash, $17,000.00 is left after the one-time costs. That covers 2.4 months ($17,000 ÷ $7,000). The cash is also $25,000.00 short of the total to raise, so the worksheet shows a warning.
A second example: a $20,000 truck only, $3,000 a month in wages, a 12-month reserve and $50,000 of cash. The reserve is $36,000.00, so the total to raise is $56,000.00. The runway is 10 months, because ($50,000 − $20,000) ÷ $3,000 = 10.
What is left out on purpose?
The worksheet shows no published price range for a whole truck or for any single line, and no permit fee amounts. Public bodies such as the SBA give the structure for counting startup costs but not truck prices, and fees change by city, county and state. So the only prices in the result are the ones you type from real quotes. If you want a second view, run the sums twice: once with the quotes you have today and once with a higher figure on each line you are unsure of, then compare “Total to raise” and “Months of runway” side by side. The CSV download makes it easy to keep both versions.
Sources (checked 15 October 2026): sba.gov
Worked examples
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| One-time $83,000.00, monthly $7,000.00, 6 months reserve | Total to raise $125,000.00 |
| One-time $53,000.00, monthly $5,000.00, 3 months reserve | Total to raise $68,000.00 |
| One-time $26,000.00, monthly $6,000.00, 12 months reserve | Total to raise $98,000.00 |
Calculated by the tool above; open it with the same values to see each step.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Is there a set price for a food truck?
No. The worksheet publishes no price range, and it has no default prices. Every amount is one you type in, based on your own quotes and plans.
Why does the form already have numbers in it?
The round numbers are example values so you can see how the sums work. They are not data, so replace each one before you rely on the result.
What if I leave the cash field blank?
The worksheet still shows “One-time costs”, “Monthly running costs”, “Reserve” and “Total to raise”. It only shows “Months of runway” and the cash left after one-time costs when you enter cash.
Why does the worksheet show a warning?
A warning appears when the cash you entered is below the one-time costs or below the total to raise. It also appears when all monthly lines are zero or every amount is zero. Check your entries when you see one.
Does the worksheet include permit fees?
No. Permit and licence fees vary by city, county and state, so the worksheet does not give amounts. Ask your local health department and licensing office, then enter the figure in the permits and licences line.
Can I use the results in a spreadsheet?
Yes. Click the CSV button to download both tables, which list each line with its amount and its share of the one-time total and the monthly total, for use in Excel.
Related tools
- Restaurant Budget Template: use it to plan the ongoing monthly budget for a restaurant or truck once you are open.
- How Much Does It Cost to Open a Restaurant? Cost Worksheet: use it if you are comparing a fixed restaurant with a food truck.
- Catering Calculator: use it to price catering jobs if your truck also takes event orders.
- Restaurant Labor Cost Calculator: use it to work out wage costs in more detail than the single wages line.
- Pour Cost Calculator: use it to check drink costs if you plan to sell beverages from the truck.
- Restaurant Costs: the hub page for all the cost worksheets and calculators on this site.
- Restaurant Tip Calculator: use it to split tips if your truck crew shares them.
- Tip Pool Calculator: use it to divide a shared tip pool between staff by hours.