I wrote this book because too many mobile food businesses fail for reasons that were entirely predictable.

Not because the food wasn’t good.
Not because the owners lacked passion.
But because critical decisions were made without a clear understanding of how mobile food actually works.

Food trucks, trailers, and carts attract entrepreneurs because they appear flexible, accessible, and less risky than brick-and-mortar restaurants. In some ways, that’s true. They require less capital and allow operators to move where demand exists.

But those advantages come with tradeoffs that are rarely explained clearly.

Mobile food compresses complexity. Everything that can go wrong in a restaurant still exists—just in a smaller space, under harsher conditions, and with fewer buffers. Poor menu design, inefficient workflows, mismatched equipment, weak pricing, or regulatory blind spots show up faster and hurt more.

Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of mobile food operators at every stage—from first-time founders to multi-unit fleets. The patterns are consistent. The same mistakes repeat. And the same systems, when designed correctly, lead to stability, profitability, and optionality.

This book is not about how to “get started.”

It is about how to operate well.

It is written for people who want to understand the mechanics of mobile food deeply enough to make better decisions—before money is spent, before fatigue sets in, and before small problems become structural ones.

— Eric Faber

Eric Faber is a multi-disciplinary consultant with more than four decades of hands-on experience across mobile food businesses, restaurants, hospitality, packaging, manufacturing, distribution, delivery logistics, construction oversight, and concept development. His work sits at the intersection of food, people, systems, and physical environments—where operational decisions either compound into long-term advantage or quietly erode margins over time.

Eric’s exposure to the foodservice industry began early. He grew up inside the packaging and manufacturing world, where his family helped pioneer products used by national restaurant brands. From a young age, he was immersed in trade shows, supplier networks, production floors, and operating environments—gaining early insight into how behind-the-scenes systems shape what ultimately succeeds or fails at the point of service.

That foundation was followed by decades spent working inside real operating conditions: restaurants, bars, food trucks, trailers, commissaries, packaging plants, distribution centers, and construction sites. Across these environments, Eric developed a reputation for seeing operational problems clearly, identifying their root causes quickly, and addressing them through practical, systems-based solutions.

In recent years, Eric has worked extensively with food trucks, trailers, and other mobile food businesses—helping operators navigate regulatory complexity, equipment decisions, menu constraints, tight margins, staffing challenges, and the realities of operating in unpredictable environments. He is known for helping mobile operators simplify their concepts, design for throughput and consistency, avoid costly build and equipment mistakes, and make decisions that align with their long-term goals.

Eric is the founder of multiple specialized consulting firms, including U.S. Restaurant Consultants, U.S. Food Truck Consultants, Packaging Resources, and U.S. Delivery Consultants. Through these platforms, he has advised independent operators, multi-unit food businesses, startups, national brands, hospitality developers, and manufacturers—working across hundreds of engagements and thousands of operational hours.

His consulting work spans menu and beverage engineering, mobile unit and kitchen design, workflow optimization, facility audits, packaging strategy, delivery channel evaluation, concept development, construction oversight, and business turnaround efforts. He is widely recognized for his ability to step into complex environments and help operators make better decisions under real-world constraints.

The Mobile Food Playbook reflects the accumulation of that experience—focused specifically on carts, trailers, and food trucks as constrained operating systems that demand clarity, discipline, and thoughtful design to succeed.

Eric lives in Eagle, Idaho with his wife, Debra, and remains closely connected to the mobile food, restaurant, hospitality, and packaging communities he has worked alongside for more than three decades.

Mobile food businesses occupy a unique and demanding place in the foodservice industry.

They combine the operational intensity of a restaurant kitchen with the volatility of retail, logistics, and event-driven demand—often compressed into a footprint smaller than a walk-in cooler. Decisions are made faster, mistakes surface sooner, and there is far less room to recover from poor design or weak systems.

Despite this, mobile food is frequently treated as a simplified version of the restaurant business.

It is not.

In many ways, it is more difficult.

Food trucks, trailers, and carts operate under constant constraint: space, power, labor, weather, regulation, and time. Success depends not on creativity alone, but on the disciplined design of menus, workflows, equipment, staffing, and decision-making systems that can withstand pressure day after day.

This book approaches mobile food with the seriousness it deserves.

Rather than focusing on inspiration or startup stories, it examines how mobile food businesses actually function—where they break down, what separates durable operators from those who burn out, and how good systems quietly compound into long-term advantage.

For operators, advisors, and entrepreneurs who want clarity instead of hype, this playbook provides a practical framework for understanding mobile food as a professional business—designed to perform under real-world conditions.

This book is not designed to be read once, cover to cover.

It is designed to be used.

The Mobile Food Playbook is a systems guide for operating food trucks, trailers, and carts under real-world constraints. Most readers will enter this book with different levels of experience, different business models, and different goals. That is intentional.

Some readers are:

• Preparing to launch their first mobile unit
• Operating a single cart, trailer, or truck
• Managing multiple mobile units
• Using mobile food as a testing platform for larger concepts
• Advising or investing in mobile food businesses

Because of that, this book is structured to work in modules, not chapters that must be consumed in order.

Mobile food businesses do not fail all at once.
They fail when one system breaks under pressure.

Depending on your situation, that pressure may come from:

• Menu complexity
• Throughput limitations
• Equipment failures
• Labor constraints
• Regulatory exposure
• Poor location economics
• Burnout at the owner-operator level

Each section of this book addresses a specific layer of that system. You should feel free to jump directly to the section that reflects your most immediate challenge.

Each section is designed to answer a different operational question:

• Foundations — What actually drives success or failure in mobile food
• Economics & Throughput — How money is really made (or lost)
• Design & Equipment — How physical decisions lock in outcomes
• Operations — How daily execution holds up under stress
• Regulation & Risk — Where operators are most exposed
• Brand & Demand — How visibility converts to revenue
• Scaling & Exit — How mobile food becomes a long-term asset

You do not need to agree with every framework in this book to benefit from it. But you should understand the tradeoffsbehind each decision before committing to one.

This book assumes:

• You want clarity, not hype
• You are willing to simplify to improve performance
• You care about sustainability — financial, operational, and personal

This book does not assume:

• That bigger is always better
• That growth is the right goal for everyone
• That passion alone will carry you through hard constraints

Mobile food businesses reward discipline.
They punish optimism without structure.

• Read with your actual operating conditions in mind, not ideal ones
• Use the frameworks to pressure-test decisions before money is spent
• Revisit sections as your business evolves — your constraints will change
• Treat this book as a diagnostic tool, not a checklist to rush through

The goal is not to copy someone else’s version of success.

The goal is to design a mobile food business that works for your reality.

Mobile food can be one of the most flexible, visible, and powerful platforms in the food industry — when it is designed intentionally.

This book exists to help you make those decisions with clarity, before constraints make them for you.

(Diagnostics, systems, checklists & decision frameworks)

Patterns, Not Excuses

Carts, Trailers & Trucks

Behavior, Value Perception & Line Psychology

Contribution Margin, Throughput & Revenue per Service Hour

Speed, Cross-Utilization & Consistency

Events, Fees, Volatility & Price Ceilings

Carts vs. Trailers vs. Trucks

Power, Redundancy, Serviceability & Failure Risk

Over-Customization, Poor Flow & Maintenance Blind Spots

What Belongs On the Unit — and What Shouldn’t

Small Teams Under Constant Pressure

Predictable Revenue vs. Speculative Sales

Jurisdiction Stacking & Inspection Risk

Where Mobile Operators Get Hurt

The Unit as Billboard

What to Track — and What to Ignore

Carts, Trailers & Fleets

What Translates — and What Doesn’t

Selling Units, Licensing Brands & Building Equity