LA's famous food trucks are suffering as people stay inside, but they can now sell to truckers at rest areas in nearby counties

• Los Angeles' food truck population of over 800 trucks faces a downturn in profits during the coronavirus pandemic, which threatens the livelihood of dozens of vendors.
• Trucks, many of which are family-owned, are losing up to 60% to 70% of their business.
• The disintegration of Los Angeles' food truck scene is creating ripple effects as truck owners, employees, and commissaries take financial hits.
• California recently allowed food trucks to obtain a permit to sell at rest stops, giving vendors the chance to sell to truckers outside the LA proper.
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Los Angeles' food truck scene of over 800 operational trucks is facing a difficult time as business essentially grinds to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic.

Food trucks, which are often run as small family businesses, cost on average $29,000 to run in LA, according to a report by the US Chambers of Commerce. But as the lifeblood of food trucks — foot traffic, social gathering, and events — disappears in the wake of the coronavirus, families and small businesses are suffering.

"Food trucks rely on people to gather. That model went away pretty quickly," Ross Resnick, founder of food-truck-booking company Roaming Hunger, told the Orange County Register in March. "Pre-corona, it's events, it's workplaces, it's nighttime gatherings in markets. When you close your eyes and imagine a food truck, you imagine a group of people."

There are various types of food trucks, but one of the primary distinctions between vendors is the gourmet food trucks and the taco trucks, the Orange Country Register's report said. Taco trucks often stick to one location in order to build up a following of customers.

In March, nearly 80% of gourmet trucks stopped running, according to the Orange County Register, but 90% of the taco trucks were still going out. However, most of the trucks still going out to sell their food reported a drop in business.

For some trucks, like Primos Tacos on Breed Street and Los Originales Tacos Arabes de Puebla, business dropped around 20%, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. But for other trucks, like Pablito's Tacos and the Asadero Chikali, the decline in business has been as much as a 60% to 70% decrease, according to the Los Angeles Times and Eater.

The owner of Asadero Chikali, Jose Pérez, decided it was a better option to shut down his truck than operate at such a high loss or rely on delivery apps.

"The problem with the delivery apps is that they are limited in their range, and my customers come from all over, plus, I can't trust them to deliver my food the way I want, plus they take 30%," Pérez told Eater.

Food trucks are still allowed to operate in Los Angeles during the coronavirus pandemic so long as they follow the social-distancing protocols for customers who are waiting to order and pick-up food, according to the city website.

But a recent report by Eater noted that the city is trying to crack down on trucks that don't have permits during the coronavirus pandemic.

The crackdown threatens to shutter trucks who have not complied with the city's new permit requirements that went into effect January 1, according to the Los Angles Times.

Before the city's health department passed the motion to prohibit trucks without a permit, owners had a grace period that lasted until the end of June.

Only 29 trucks had the city's permit when the motion was passed.

Food trucks reopen for truckers outside LA

While new obstacles plague vendors in Los Angeles, a new California mandate signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom could ease some of their burdens.

The California Department of Transportation is now allowing food trucks to sell at public rest areas across the state in an effort to boost sales and provide California's large population of truckers more opportunities for hot meals, says Eater.

Even though there are no rest stops in Los Angeles proper, according to Eater, the surrounding counties have several.

The mandate lasts until June 15 and vendors must obtain a permit to sell at rest stops.

With stay-at-home orders mandated across California, the Los Angeles Times reported that food trucks are seeing a decline in foot traffic. But it's also their customers that could be the saving grace for some vendors who are banking on the loyalty of their regular following to keep them afloat.

"We have a unique product and customers that support us," Raul Ortega, who runs Mariscos Jalisco told the Los Angeles Times.

Other trucks like Vcho's, a Salvadoran pupusa truck, are also relying on the flow of regulars who are calling in orders and waiting in their cars to pick up the food, Eater reported.

But the overall loss of revenue affects more than the truck owners and their families.

The restaurant industry is hard hit by the wave of layoffs that has come crashing during the coronavirus pandemic, and food trucks are no exception.

Trucks who hire employees have fought to keep their workers employed but in some cases, like with Danny Rodriguez of Pablito's Tacos, employees had to be let go, according to the Los Angeles Times report.

A good number of food truck workers are undocumented immigrants, and that means unemployment benefits aren't an option if their business shuts down, Spectrum News reports.

As foot traffic declines and large events become non-existent, some food truck owners worry about creeping debt, especially since trucks pay commissary rent fees to park their vehicles and prepare their food. According to the US Chamber of Commerce report, those fees can be as more than $1,250 a month.

"This may seem like a small business and it is a small business but its reach, it reaches several people, you got to seem my pest control provider, he's affected by this," Rodolfo Barrientos, owner of the taco truck Gracias Señor, told Spectrum News. "The person that does the cleanliness of the truck, he's affected by it. All of our vendors, they're impacted by it and then multiply that by the hundredths of trucks that there are."

The deterioration of the food truck markets inspired Ross Resnick, founder of Roaming Hunger, a company that books food trucks for events, to start pairing food trucks with those who need meals most right now — homeless, first responders, healthcare workers, and elderly people.

According to LA Weekly, three of the trucks in the Roaming Hunger's network are working with a non-profit called The Dream Center to distribute meals while an anonymous corporate donor funds the meals.

While the effort fills a gap for some of Los Angeles' food trucks, hundreds still face an uncertain future during the coronavirus pandemic.