Food Truck Equipment Checklist Builder
Pick your concept and how you're getting your truck. You'll get a tiered, printable equipment checklist — what the health inspector requires, what your menu actually needs, and a published price band for every line we could source. The ones nobody publishes a price for are marked as such, not guessed.
Build your checklist
Four questions. Everything updates live.
Shore power or a commissary hookup means you may not need to buy a generator.
Sourced equipment subtotal
It adds up only the items our sources actually publish a price for. It is not your total build cost — it excludes the truck itself, permits, insurance, inventory and working capital. For the whole picture use the startup cost calculator.
Where every number on this page comes from
No figure here was estimated by us. Each price band is quoted from one of these, and each item carries the tag of its source.
- [ODK] — Opening Day Kit, Food Truck Startup Costs: What You'll Actually Spend. Source of the seven-line equipment list (range/griddle, fryer, refrigeration, prep tables and sinks, hood and ventilation, propane, generator), the $5,000–$30,000 equipment-and-build-out category total, the POS band, and the rule that buying used knocks 30–50% off — "just make sure everything is NSF-certified or your health inspector will send you home."
- [7S] — 7shifts, 18 Essential Food Truck Equipment (Checklist). Source of the per-item bands our own post doesn't break out: work tables, smallwares, sinks, blender/food processor, holding and warming, servingware, safety kit, janitorial, freezers, ovens, range burners and the countertop-vs-floor fryer split.
- [CK] — Cart-King, Food Cart Startup Costs: Complete Breakdown. Source of the fire suppression band, the water-and-waste band, and the $15,000–$40,000 truck kitchen-equipment total. Already an Opening Day Kit source — it's cited on our mobile coffee cart guide.
- [TOAST] — Toast, Essential Food Truck Equipment List. Source of the equipment taxonomy and of the concept-to-equipment calls: smokers for dedicated BBQ trucks, ice makers "if you intend to serve drinks from anything except a bottle," blenders as essential for smoothie and juice concepts, and the flat range being the one for "burgers, eggs, pancakes, and bacon."
- [WSS] — WebstaurantStore, Food Truck Equipment Checklist. Source of the six-category structure (cooking, warming and holding, prep, supplies, refrigeration, janitorial) and the individual serving and janitorial line items.
- [COFFEE] — Opening Day Kit, Coffee Shop Equipment List. Source of the espresso machine, grinder, batch brewer and milk-refrigeration bands used on the coffee-truck list. Flagged on those items because they are cafe-market prices for the same machines, not truck-specific quotes.
- [FDA] — U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA Food Code 2022, including Chart 4-D, the Mobile Food Establishment Matrix in Annex 7, and §5-202.12(A), which in the 2022 edition lowered the required hand-sink hot water temperature from 100°F to 85°F.
Two honest limits. First, the Food Code is a model code. States adopt it in different editions and counties layer their own rules on top, so the "required" tier is what health departments most commonly require — not a legal guarantee for your jurisdiction. Confirm your own list with your local health department before you buy anything; our permits and licenses by state guide is the starting point. Second, this is a budgeting and planning aid, not legal, financial or code-compliance advice.
The checklist is free. The build plan is the kit.
The Food Truck Kit is roughly 47 done-for-you files — budget spreadsheets, permit trackers, vendor sheets, the business plan, the whole launch stack. Built by Dustin Lack, former CMO of Dickey's Barbecue Pit.
See what's in the kitFood Truck Equipment Checklist Builder by Opening Day Kit
Get the Free Food Truck Starter Kit
Permit checklist, startup budget calculator, and a printable worksheet. Free, no strings.
