Which Food Truck Terms Should Every Owner Know?
The event organizer quotes a flat fee. The commissary bills by the month. Your POS reports average ticket. Each one changes what a stop is worth.
Here are the food truck terms behind the 2027 trends, in plain words, with a link to where each one shows up.
Some of Dr. Paul Borosky’s 1,000+ clients run one truck. A few run three.
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Last Updated: November 2026
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Food Truck Business Plan Template
Built around average ticket, daily revenue, and more.
See the templateHow This Guide Works
Short on time? Pick a term from the list and read two or three sentences. Prefer a story? Pedro, the macaw who sells ice cream and funnel cakes in Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series, gets tripped up by one of these terms right after the list.
Average ticket through Standing date, grouped by topic.
What Does Each Food Truck Term Mean?
From average ticket to standing date, each entry is short enough to read in under a minute, and 8 point to a deeper guide on Quality Business Plan.
Average ticket
What one customer spends per order, on average. Divide a stop’s sales by the number of orders. Raising it by a dollar is often easier than finding more customers.
Catering minimum
The least a client must spend to book your truck for a private event. It protects you from driving out for a small order.
Commissary
A licensed kitchen where trucks prep food, store supplies, and dump water. Many cities require one. The monthly fee is a fixed cost.
Used on: Taking online pre-orders, Turning your truck into a restaurant | Full commissary guide →
Daily revenue
Total sales for one service day. Compare it stop by stop, not just week by week, to see where your best days come from.
Event fee
What an organizer charges you to park and sell. It can be flat, a share of sales, or both. Always count it before you say yes.
Food cost percentage
What the food in an item costs, divided by its price. A $12 plate with $4 of food is about 33%. Track it as supplier prices move.
→ Raising food truck prices | Full food cost percentage guide →
Food safety recall
When a supplier or the government pulls a product because it may make people sick. A truck needs to know which batch it used and where it went.
Fuel cost per service day
What you spend on gas or diesel and generator fuel to run one day of service. Far stops can look busy and still lose money once fuel is counted.
Minimum wage increase
A legal raise in the lowest hourly pay. Several states raise it again in 2027, which lifts your crew cost even if nothing else changes.
Used on: 2027 food truck trends, Handling 2027 wage increases on a truck
Pre-order
An order placed online or by text before your truck arrives. It smooths the rush and tells you how much to prep.
Prep par
The amount of each item you prep for a stop, based on what that stop usually sells. It cuts waste and sellouts.
Regulars
Customers who come back again and again. For a truck that moves, regulars follow you through text lists and social posts.
Used on: What Gen Z wants from a food truck, Building regulars when you move around, Handling 2027 wage increases on a truck
Standing date
A repeat booking at the same place and time, like every Thursday at an office park. It is steadier than chasing new crowds.
From the Fabled Forest
Why Did Pedro Skip the Biggest Fair of the Year?
Pedro the macaw was thrilled. The fall fair wanted his cart for three days. Then he read the contract: a flat event fee up front, plus a cut of sales. Doctor Owl had him add the fee, the extra prep, and the commissary hours, then divide by the sales he expected. The fair barely broke even. Pedro sorted it with Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, listed his stops by profit instead of crowd size, and booked two office parks for the same weekend.
Is Every Stop Paying for Itself?
Bring last month’s stops and sales, and you’ll leave knowing which ones to keep.
Or call or text (321) 948-9588.
Where Should You Go Next?
Read the 2027 food truck trends to see event fee at work, or open the food truck template. The trends hub covers nine more industries.
About the Author
Dr. Paul Borosky has sat in the passenger seat of more than one truck budget. With a DBA, an MBA in Finance, and 1,000+ small business clients behind him, he kept every truck term here short enough to read in line at the commissary.
Sources
- Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Minimum Wage.
- Lowndes, Florida’s Minimum Wage Reaches $15.00 on September 30, 2026.