Tracking Food Trucks

Although Los Angeles is known for having some of the finest cultural restaurants in the entire nation, the majority of young people residing in the city of angels only talk about food trucks. When most people think of food trucks they usually think of the old roach coaches that travel from construction job sites, selling microwaved burritos, and the type of pizza that can literally make a person spend the next hour in the bathroom. However, Los Angeles has taken the concept of meals on wheels and added fresh and unique cuisine for people to choose from. Using social media such as Twitter as the main marketing tool to inform people of the locations of the food trucks, a cultural phenomenon was born. Now, food trucks are growing in popularity in all major cities from Chicago, New York, and Houston, but the way people find the unique cuisine that can only be accessed from food trucks has changed thanks to GPS tracking technology.

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Originating in the Los Angeles area, food truck companies moved throughout cities such as Santa Monica, Venice, and Westwood, offering everything from BBQ-style meals to Korean delicacies. There is no doubt that Twitter was one of the driving forces behind the way food truck businesses exploded in popularity. With more people communicating via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter more now than ever before, it is clearly evident that real-time GPS data and information are a top priority. This is why so many food truck companies are seeing the benefits of GPS technology and how it can help customers find a food truck location using nothing more than a mobile app!

Food Truck Near Me

Real-Time GPS Food Truck Tracking App

The reason why Twitter was instrumental in helping food trucks grow in popularity is that since food trucks did not stay in one location for a long period of time people had to communicate where a food truck was via social networking media. Even though food trucks in L.A. had websites where people could access menus and food items sold, the locations the food trucks would visit were not posted because there really was no way to efficiently tell people where a truck was, how long it was at a location for, what the next location will be and more. However, real-time tracking systems such as the SilverCloud have changed the way people can access where food trucks are along with an assortment of driving activity data.

How Do I Find A Food Truck Location?

Food Truck GPS Tracking

Basically, food trucks have a very unique business model in that they are not a delivery service, and they do not have a set address where they can have a google my business listing. This leads many people to find food trucks either randomly, a job site, or at a local event. However, food trucks can increase their profitability/sales by utilizing social media and their websites to better connect with potential customers. One of the more popular tools to help in this effort is through the use of a real time GPS tracker. How the technology works is simple:

1. The food truck equips a live GPS tracker on the food truck they are operating
2. They use ShareSpot technology (a feature of live GPS trackers) that allows the food truck to share their exact location with customers.
3. Use the HTML ShareSpot code on the food truck website, Facebook page, twitter, and more. 

Customers can then find where a food truck is located 24/7 using Google Maps! By utilizing GPS fleet tracking technology a food truck company takes the randomness out of the equation which results in more traffic, sales, and customers with bellies full of food!

Many food truck operations are now putting detailed maps on their websites that show where a food truck is in real-time. That data is accessible to the public, allowing anyone to know if one of their favorite meals on wheels is nearby. What is even more impressive is that people can actually set virtual boundary alerts, meaning they can be alerted via email/text message if a food truck is in their local area! With the help of GPS trackers for business, anyone wanting to locate their favorite food truck has never been easier!

GPS Tracking For Food Trucks

Alexandria, Virginia is probably not the first place most people think of when they think of a town offering fresh Indonesian cuisine but SataY Sarinah changed all that with eclectic authentic Indonesian dishes and recipes. As the business continued to grow, SataY Sarinah owner Sonny Setiantoko decided to expand his business by investing in a food truck. With the new food truck, SataY Sarinah’ business began to grow and reach a larger customer base for over three years. That is until the company food truck itself became appetizing among thieves and was stolen.

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One of the first things the owner at SataY Sarinah stated was he didn’t really believe his food truck would be a target for thieves because the truck was big and bright red, sticking out much like a sore thumb on any roadways. He believed that the only thing about the food truck that would seem appetizing to thieves would have been probably the generator used to power the kitchen equipment. He never actually thought the food truck itself could be targeted. Although Sonny is hopeful the stolen food truck will resurface the reality is that the food truck was not equipped with any form of the security GPS system and therefore with each passing day it is unlikely to show up.

Alexandria Police investigating the food truck theft stated that a GPS auto tracking solution could have helped SataY Sarinah recover the stolen vehicle. This is because live GPS monitoring solutions not only can provide real-time locational data on where a food truck is at but can also notify a business the moment their food truck is moved without consent or authorization. In fact, police authorities said that the SataY Sarinah food truck theft was the second food truck theft in the area in the past 90 days. And although food truck theft is not overly common, police did suggest food truck companies should take the initiative to increase automotive security by investing in things like GPS vehicle tracking technology.

Currently, police in Alexandria are still asking for help from the public to see if anyone has any details about the stolen food truck. Any tips or information that can lead to the recovery of the stolen food truck would be greatly appreciated and can be sent directly to Alexandria Police.

Food Trucks In Houston Texas

Finding success in the current economic climate can be an arduous task, forcing many food truck owners to think outside of the box when it comes to enhancing the customer experience. One company that understands this important concept has changed the way its business stays connected with its customers through a new approach simply called public tracking. What makes this approach so unique and different is that it calls upon GPS tracking software to allow anyone instant access to the exact real-time position of any of the companies’ food truck service vehicles operating in the field. Data is accessible via a web browser, iPhone, or Android, and the new marketing approach to stay better connected with customers is producing positive financial gains for Houston-based food truck company, The Rolling Hunger.

The Rolling Hunger and other food truck companies across the nation have revolutionized the way people access quality cuisine. This is because before the introduction of the food truck business model people essentially only had one option during the lunch hour and that was greasy, fast, mass-produced food. Looking to put a new twist on lunch and dinner, small businesses in Los Angeles and other major metropolitan cities began using social media such as Twitter and Facebook while going mobile to create a new alternative. Through the creation of mobile restaurants, small businesses were able to offer an assortment of local and cultural cuisine to residents, and do so in a new way that had never been successfully done before. As the food truck industry became viral, more and more people began turning away from the late-night drive-thrus and instead began logging onto social networking sites to find out where their favorite food trucks would next.

The Rolling Hunger understood both the benefits and challenges presented by having a business that was completely mobile. “Being in the food truck industry is great because it allows us the freedom to shift locations to find local hot spots and clusters of people, but it also presents some potential problems for those not using social media to find us”, explained a cook for The Rolling Hunger. “Clearly, it is advantageous for us to move from different locations to bring our version of fusion mixed Vietnamese and Korean delicacies to local Houston residents, but for those customers who do not use social media and want to find us again, the task can be a difficult one. After long thought and contemplation, we realized that by putting a GPS tracker on each one of our food trucks, and placing the real-time data on a mapping program that would be accessible to the public on our website, our customers would never have to wonder where we were!”

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The Rolling Hunger got in touch with a Southern California fleet management company called Tracking System Direct that provided the vehicle tracking hardware to the Houston food truck company and helped them set up the data in a way that was easily accessible to anyone who visited The Rolling Hunger website. “When most people think of GPS trackers for business they tend to think of things such as bus companies, ambulances, or taxi cabs, but in reality, it is small businesses who are the ones who receive the greatest benefit from GPS monitoring technology”, explained a Tracking System Direct representative. “It is small businesses who are working on a tight budget and cannot afford to waste money with unnecessary trips or excessive fuel consumption. Although The Rolling Hunger came to us only looking for a device that would allow their customers to locate mobile food trucks in real-time, they were also provided with an auto-theft protection system, a way to document mileage for taxation purposes, and an avenue to observe employee driving activity. As their business continues to expand, I am confident they will rely more heavily on the other benefits offered by the SilverCloud trackers they are currently using.”

With business becoming harder and harder to come by in most states and cities, The Rolling Hunger is staying ahead of the curve by taking advantage of technological tools to better bring exposure for their food truck business. Now the only question that remains is how many competitors will also turn to GPS tracking systems to help improve their business efficiency?

Source: Press Release