Food Trucks Should Make Freeway Deliveries, Or Something Like That

We all have crazy dreams, and today, my dream is that my favorite food trucks would deliver food to me on my morning commute to work.

Food trucks originated out of convenience. Dating back to the American Civil War, the trucks catered to construction sites and other blue collar professions so that hard working people didn’t have to waste any of their precious lunch hour on a commute to a local eatery.

In their current form, gourmet food trucks are not the most convenient eating option in the world. Unless you work in a business complex that happens to be a known food truck meet-up location, chances are it’s more convenient to go to a restaurant than it is to scout out a food truck.

The Dream:

Imagine a world where you could grab a burrito, burger or delicious salad on the freeway, without having to stop your car. That’s right, pull up parallel to the closest food truck, conduct your transaction before hand on your smart phone and get your food hurled into your window. Not only do you get awesome food without having to pull over, but you get to experience a blockbuster movie type exchange on your commute to or from work.

Why?

Why? Why not? This is America, damnit. My morning commute is a soul-sucking experience, and the one back home is even worse. If I see my favorite food truck driving next to me on the freeway, why not have them hurl me a warm, fully wrapped and packaged burrito?

How?

The technology and intuitiveness is already there for this to be a reality. Smartphones are the new wallet, so there’s no need to fling exact change back and forth (throwing money is hard), just hop on your phone, agree to your bill sent by the truck, pay it with your pre-submitted credit card and vehicle information (instead of checking ID, they check your license plate #), and wait for your order.

Pull up beside the truck that happens to be in proximity, roll down your window or sun roof pull up within throwing range and get ready for delivery. For the driving customer, just drive looking forward. For the truck, their driver continues driving straight while the Brett Favre of the truck launches the food out of the window.

Rob Dyrdek also uses a burrito gun, but it’s a bit messy. If there was a way to dial down the power, it might be a reasonable delivery method.

Benefits to the Consumer:

The main benefit to the customer is the utmost in food-delivery convenience. If executed properly, it could serve to be more convenient than a drive thru.

Benefits to the Food Truck Entrepreneur:

Let’s face it, food trucks spend a good chunk of their day driving to their next location. Now, if they adopt “roaming menus,” they can have a limited menu of items available to customers whenever their truck is in motion. For example, this limited “roaming menu” would consist of easily wrapped and throwable food stuff, including, but not limited to: burritos, sandwiches, fries (staple-closed lunch bag), burgers, hot dogs, steamed buns and spring rolls (tightly wrapped in a pyramid shape).

These roaming menus allow for the food trucks to earn revenue during parts of the day that were previously untapped. On the busiest of days, trucks usually max out at 3 to 5 locations, but now the time they spent commuting can also be used selling.

MARKETING/SELLING TIP: Find Sig Alerts and traffic jams to show up to. Chances are people fuming and falling asleep in traffic would love to eat a delicious burrito instead of staring at the car in front of them. Better yet, give away a few menu items if you’re stuck in traffic, wrap your business card and marketing material to whatever food you’re throwing to people.