As the cold, winter months pass us by and the spring season rolls in, it's no better time to get ready for the busy food truck season thats going to hit in 2022. With COVID-19 fears easing throughout the country and world, more and more people are taking to the parks and streets to enjoy the beautiful weather with friends and family near and far. There's no better time to have your food truck front and center to bring good food and joy for as many peoeple as possible, and preparing ahead of time will help to ensure there's little to no down-time for cleaning or maintenance needed when things get super busy. Here are some ways you can prepare your food truck for the busy 2022 months that are ahead.

Get All Maintenance, Repairs, & Upgrades Out Of The Way

With the cold weather comes the general downtime associated with food trucks when it’s just too cold to operate and the general public are staying inside. This window of downtime is perfect to get any equipment and vehicle maintenance and repairs done, as well as any upgrades that you have been eye balling. Take advantage of the lull and get your food truck ready to go to avoid any missed business days due to equipment failures down the road. 

Deep Clean Your Food truck

Not only is the cold weather dead period great for maintenance and upgrades to teh truck, but it’s also an opportune moment to do a full, deep cleaning of your food truck. Wipe down all of your counters and equipment, and then use a food-safe disinfectant to deep clean everything including the walls and ceiling. Make sure to wipe down the exhaust hood and ducts to remove all dust, debris, and grease. Move aside equipment so that you can deep clean hard to reach places that you normally wouldn’t be able to access, and empty and clean your refrigerator and other equipment interiors. 

Check Your Equipment

Your food truck’s kitchen equipment have several parts that should be inspected before the spring season hits. Check any coils that your equipment may have to see if it needs cleaning or replacing. Dirty or damaged coils can lead to a slew of problems including energy efficiency, overworked compressors, and further damage to the equipment. A quick way to clean the coils is with a plastic brush and a vacuum, keeping the coil clean and ensuring the longevity of the equipment. 

Inspect Your Exhaust Hood

Your food truck’s exhaust system is crucial to ensure your mobile kitchen’s ability to function. Not only does the exhaust fan pull out the hot air, making it more comfortable to work in your food truck, but it also pulls out grease, dirt, and other debris from inside the truck. Clean the exhaust hood and ducts to prevent any grease and other debris build ups, and clean or change out grease filters. The time right before spring busy season is a great time to call in a certified technician to review your exhaust hood system and perform any maintenance and / or repairs that may need to be done ahead of the busy spring season.

Winter and the cold weather will soon be gone to bring in the cool, spring seasons into the summer. Prepping your food truck ahead of time can help propel your food truck business this upcoming spring and summer and get you moving to the next level. HoodMart provides our customers with a wide range of exhaust hood systems - from Compensating (Short Cycle) to Perforated Supply Plenum PSP - as well as all exhaust hood accessories such as no weld Grease Duct, hood filters, canopy hood lights, and curbs. If you still have questions regarding the purchase of your hood system, please feel free to contact one of our experts today by calling us at 1.800.715.1014 or by contacting us through our live chat system.