On any given day, you might find yourself dealing with an unexpected fender bender on the way to an event, an employee getting burned at the grill, or even waking up to find your truck stolen after a long night. These are the realities of the road, the inherent risks that come with the territory.
But while these risks are part of the food truck game, they don’t have to be game-ending. There are concrete steps you can take to protect yourself and your business, minimizing the chances of an accident that could threaten everything you’ve built. By being proactive, you can navigate the risks and keep your operation running smoothly, by completing a loss prevention checklist.
The Loss Prevention Checklist
A loss prevention checklist helps a food truck business by ensuring that safety measures and best practices are consistently followed. By going through the checklist regularly, you can catch potential issues before they become costly problems, like equipment malfunctions, food safety risks, or security concerns. It keeps everyone on the same page, reduces the chance of accidents, and ultimately protects your business from avoidable losses.
Download the Loss Control Checklist: This document covers the following: food operations, food handling practices, fire protection and prevention, electrical equipment, cold storage and refrigeration, slip and fall, exterior safety, and theft. This document was made by Joel Paprocki, owner of Insure My Food and self-proclaimed “insurance geek” who has been generous in sharing food truck insurance knowledge on the podcast.
Loss prevention checklist you can download.
Best of all this loss prevention checklist integrates seamlessly into the daily routines of a food truck operation to improve safety. It’s a practical tool designed to protect against the everyday risks of running a food truck business.
How to Complete the Food Truck Loss Prevention Checklist
Step 1: Print the Checklist
- Download and print a copy of the Food Truck Loss Prevention Checklist. Keep it in a convenient location inside your food truck or commissary kitchen, where it’s easily accessible to all team members.
Step 2: Review Each Section
- The checklist is divided into key areas that cover different aspects of your food truck operation, such as General Safety, Equipment Maintenance, Food Handling, and Security. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with each section.
Step 3: Conduct Daily Inspections
- Before Opening: Start each day by reviewing the checklist. Ensure that all safety and maintenance tasks are completed before your truck hits the road. This includes checking that fire extinguishers are in place, verifying that cooking equipment is functioning properly, and making sure all food items are stored at safe temperatures.
- During Operation: Throughout the day, use the checklist to monitor ongoing tasks, like food handling practices, cleaning routines, and employee safety. This helps ensure that standards are maintained during busy service hours.
- End of Day: Before closing, go through the checklist one last time to confirm that everything is secure, clean, and ready for the next day. Lock up your truck, and make sure all equipment is powered down properly.
The food operations section of the Loss Prevention Checklist.
Step 4: Assign Responsibilities
- Designate specific tasks on the checklist to individual team members. This ensures that everyone knows their role and helps prevent any steps from being overlooked.
Step 5: Address Issues Immediately
- If you identify any issues or risks during your inspection, take immediate action to resolve them. This might involve repairing equipment, discarding spoiled food, or updating safety protocols.
Step 6: Keep Records
- Maintain a record of completed checklists as part of your business documentation. This can be helpful for tracking compliance, identifying recurring issues, and proving due diligence in case of an inspection or incident.
Step 7: Regularly Update the Checklist
- Periodically review and update the checklist to ensure it covers all relevant areas of your operation every 6 months. As your business grows or changes, new risks may emerge that require attention.
What is Loss Prevention?
Loss prevention in the mobile food industry is all about taking steps to protect your business from unexpected problems that could cost you money or cause harm. It’s about being proactive to avoid issues like accidents, theft, or food spoilage that could hurt your bottom line.
For example, you might install secure locks and alarm systems on your truck or trailer to deter thieves. Regularly maintaining your kitchen equipment helps prevent breakdowns or even fires. Training your staff on safety protocols is key to avoiding injuries. And, of course, keeping your food at the right temperature is crucial to prevent spoilage and foodborne illnesses, which could lead to expensive liability claims.
What is Loss Control?
Loss control is the practice of trying to reduce the possibility or severity of a loss or an accident. So when it comes to insurance risks bodily injury and property damage are usually covered.
But loss control can also be applied for a food truck’s business profits. For example, your freezer could break down in your food truck. Do you have a plan in place that will help you avoid spoilage and prevent a greater loss. These are the things that keep Paprocki up at night.
“Imagine you’ve spent years building up your food truck business, and then, out of nowhere, a single incident—like a fire caused by a neglected grill—wipes it all out. In some extreme cases, large losses like that can lead to a small business closing its doors for good,” says Joel Paprocki.
Paprocki recalls a specific example where a food truck owner neglected to regularly check a faulty propane connection. The oversight seemed minor until one day it caused a significant fire, resulting in not only the destruction of the truck but also the business itself. “It’s a stark reminder that something as simple as following a loss prevention checklist could be the difference between thriving and losing everything,” Paprocki adds.
