Food Truck Repair Safety Tips

When you’re making any food truck repair on the chassis of your food truck or simply doing basic maintenance, practice these safety tips to avoid injury to yourself and damage to your food truck and to be prepared in case of an emergency.

Food Truck Repair Safety Tips

Don’t smoke while you’re working on your food truck.
Never work on your food truck unless the parking brake is on, the gearshift is in Park or Neutral, and the engine is shut off (unless it has to be running for you to do the work).
Be sure that the parts of the engine you’re working on are cold so that you don’t get burned.
Never jack up a food truck unless the wheels are properly blocked.
Use insulated tools for any electrical work.
Before using a wrench or ratchet on a part that seems to be stuck, make sure that if it suddenly comes loose, your hand won’t hit anything.
Before working on your food truck, take off your rings, long necklaces, and other jewelry, and tie back long hair.
If you’re using toxic chemicals such as coolant, cleaners, keep them away from your mouth and eyes, wash your hands thoroughly after using them, and either store them safely or dispose of them in a way that’s safe for the environment.
Know that gasoline is extremely dangerous to have around. Not only is it toxic and flammable, but the vapor in an empty can is explosive enough to take out a city block.
Work in a well-ventilated area. If possible, work outdoors. If you must work in a garage, be sure to keep the doors open or keep the exhaust ventilation running.
Keep fire extinguishers handy. Place a properly rated one in your garage and one under the front seat of your food truck . (Secure it with a bracket that prevents it from rolling under the pedals.)

The Bottom Line

Vehicles that don’t receive regular maintenance experience a greatly reduced lifespan, excessive breakdowns, expensive repairs, lost time on the road. Preventive maintenance is about being proactive and regularly scheduling proper maintenance based on time, mileage, engine hours or gallons of fuel used.

We hope that by following these basic food truck repair safety tips we help you prevent any possible injuries. If you have any additional food truck repair safety tips, we’d love to hear them. Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Facebook | Twitter

By Richard Myrick|2020-11-10T08:06:37-05:00Nov 10, 2020|Under the Hood|

About the Author: Richard Myrick

Richard Myrick is an architect by degree (Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan) who began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago. Richard found that there was no central repository of mobile street food information anywhere on the internet, and with that, the idea for MCM was born. Richard also wrote the "Running a Food Truck for Dummies" available in bookstores everywhere and Amazon. You can reach out to Richard by email at: [email protected].