Food Truck Break-Even Sales Calculator

Fixed costs are expenses that do not change with sales volume. For a food truck, this includes your truck payment/lease, insurance, commissary kitchen fees, annual licenses, marketing subscriptions, and any salaried labor.

Variable costs are expenses that increase as your sales increase. The main ones for a food truck are food ingredients (Cost of Goods Sold), hourly labor (including payroll taxes), fuel, and credit card processing fees.

For a given period (e.g., a month), add up all your variable costs (Food + Labor + Fuel + etc.) and divide that by your total sales for the same period. Then multiply by 100. A typical range for food trucks is 35-45%.

It's most common to calculate it for the same period as your fixed costs. Since most fixed costs like rent and insurance are paid monthly, calculating a monthly break-even sales target is the most practical approach.

There are two ways: lower your fixed costs (e.g., find cheaper insurance) or lower your variable cost percentage. You can lower your variable costs by reducing food waste, finding better supplier prices, or increasing your menu prices without losing customers.