How much does a food truck cost in Australia? The rig, the paperwork and the first season, priced honestly

How much does a food truck cost in Australia? Honestly, it depends on three buckets, and most online figures only price the first one. The rig is the vehicle, kitchen, power and wrap. The paperwork is the council licence, vehicle duty, insurance and gas certificate you pay before your first serve. The first season is the cash that keeps you trading while takings build. Price all three and you’ve got a real number.

Search “food truck cost” and you’ll find the same wide range repeated from blog to blog, usually with no breakdown. That’s not much help when a builder wants a deposit. Here’s how to build your own figure, with real council fees and the costs that catch first-timers out.

Bucket one: what does the rig cost?

This is the part you buy once, and the part that varies most. A second-hand coffee van and a brand-new custom truck with a full fry kitchen are different purchases, even though both get called “a food truck”.

Price these separately:

Item	What drives the price
Vehicle or trailer	New vs used, size, age, kilometres, whether it’s already fitted
Kitchen fit-out	Stainless benches, sinks, hand basin, extraction, flooring, the hatch
Cooking and cold gear	Fryers, flat-top, coffee machine, fridges and freezers
Gas and electrical	LPG lines and cylinder storage, wiring, test and certificates
Power	Generator, lithium battery and inverter system, or both
Water	Fresh and waste tanks sized to your council’s rules
Signage and wrap	The bit that makes people walk over

The practical move: get at least two or three itemised quotes, not a single lump sum. An itemised quote lets you compare builders like for like. It shows you where you can save (a used fridge, a simpler wrap) and where you shouldn’t (gas work). It’s also the document a lender wants to see. Our page on food truck fit-out finance explains why builders usually take a deposit and stage payments, and why that changes how the build gets funded.

How much is a food truck fit-out compared with a trailer?

A trailer saves you the engine, gearbox and a second set of rego and servicing costs, but you’ll need a tow vehicle that can legally pull it. A truck or van is one unit and is quicker to set up at a pitch. If you’re weighing the two, our page on food trailer finance runs through the trade-offs.

New vs used food truck price in Australia

A used truck is usually cheaper upfront. The catch is that a used rig can come with hidden bills: a gas installation that won’t pass, an old electrical test, or finance still registered over it. Before you price a used truck, read our checklist for buying a second-hand food truck. It covers the gas, electrical and PPSR checks.

Bucket two: what do you pay before your first serve?

This is where budgets get ambushed. None of these costs is huge on its own, but they all land at once, before you’ve taken a dollar.

Council food registration or licence

Every council sets its own fee, and it changes each financial year. Here’s what a sample of councils lists:

Council	What it is	Fee
Sunshine Coast (QLD)	Retail food vehicle licence, issue or renewal, 2026–27	$272
Wodonga (VIC)	Mobile food premises, class 2, 2025–26	$607
Wodonga (VIC)	Mobile food premises, class 3 or 3A, 2025–26	$407
Northern Beaches (NSW)	Mobile food van approval, 2025–26	$654 for one year, $1,569 for three

Sources: ABLIS — Sunshine Coast, ABLIS — Wodonga, Northern Beaches Council.

Bigger councils can charge more. Brisbane’s 2026–27 fee schedule shows renewal fees for premises up to 250 m² from $503 to $1,005.90, depending on the food safety star rating. There’s also a variation fee if you change things later.

Two things to know. In Queensland, one licence lets a mobile food business trade anywhere in the state. In Victoria you register through FoodTrader and lodge a statement of trade for each council area. Our guide to food truck permits in Australia walks through each state. Event trading also costs extra: some councils charge separate inspection fees for each event, on top of your annual approval.

Vehicle duty and rego

Buying the vehicle triggers state duty. In NSW, Revenue NSW says duty on a new vehicle is based on the price you paid, including GST. For a used vehicle, it’s the higher of the sale price or market value. Passenger vehicles pay $3 per $100 up to $44,999, then $1,350 plus $5 per $100. Commercial vehicles can be treated differently, so run your truck through the Revenue NSW calculator. Every state has its own rates.

The common mistake is pricing duty on the bare chassis, when the fitted truck you’re buying is worth much more.

Gas certificate

If you cook with LPG, gas compliance is a must. It’s also the paperwork event organisers ask for at bump-in. In Queensland, s107 of the Petroleum and Gas (Safety) Regulation 2018 requires the owner to make sure the gas system in the vehicle is inspected “at least once in every 1-year period”. Redland City Council tells mobile vendors at its events that they must have a current Gas Inspection Certificate on hand for council officers.

Treat this as a yearly cost, not a one-off. Other states regulate gas differently, so ask a licensed gasfitter what applies where your rig is registered.

The rest of the setup list

• Insurance: public liability (most events require it), the vehicle, and cover for equipment and stock
• Electrical test and tag for leads and appliances
• Food safety supervisor certificate if you handle unpackaged, potentially hazardous food
• Opening stock, packaging and a payment terminal
• Event applications and site fees, often paid months before the event

Ready to put real numbers on your build? Check your options here. It takes about a minute, and there’s no credit check just for asking.

Bucket three: food truck running costs per month and the first-season cash

This is the bucket that sinks new trucks. The rig is paid for and the licence is on the wall. Then a wet November washes out two markets, while the site fees, stock and repayments keep coming.

Monthly running costs usually include:

• Stock and packaging (rises and falls with sales)
• Fuel, LPG and generator fuel
• Site fees or revenue shares
• Staff wages and super for event days
• Base kitchen, storage or parking
• Insurance, phone, software and terminal fees
• Servicing, tyres and repairs
• Loan or lease repayments

Then add the yearly costs (council renewal, gas inspection, rego) divided by twelve. That’s your monthly fixed base. Working capital is enough cash to cover that base plus stock through your slowest stretch, not your average month. In the south that’s winter. Up north it’s the wet season. Our guide to the quiet months has ways to keep the hatch earning.

The truck-stop calculator adds up the rig, shows your funding need and maps your season month by month. That makes the weak months easy to spot.

Does the $20,000 write-off cover a food truck?

Usually not the whole thing. The ATO’s instant asset write-off applies to eligible small businesses (aggregated turnover under $10 million) for assets that each cost less than $20,000. A complete truck is normally well over that and gets depreciated instead. Separately bought items, like a coffee machine or a battery system, might fall under the threshold. GST-registered owners can generally claim the GST on the build back through their BAS. Our guide to buying a work van or food truck covers GST credits, the car limit and the write-off in detail. Run your plan past your accountant before you buy.

Illustrative example: pricing a dumpling truck in Queensland

This example is illustrative only. The figures are made up to show the method, not drawn from any real deal or quote.

Mai wants to launch a dumpling truck on the Sunshine Coast. She gets three itemised builder quotes and picks the middle one.

Bucket	Item	Budget
Rig	Used light truck	$38,000
Rig	Fit-out, gas, electrical, water, hatch	$52,000
Rig	Steamers, fryer, fridges, battery system	$21,000
Rig	Wrap and menu boards	$5,000
Paperwork	Council licence, gas certificate, test and tag, insurance, duty and rego	$6,500
First season	Opening stock and packaging	$3,000
First season	Summer event site fees paid upfront	$7,500
First season	Two slow months of fixed costs and repayments	$12,000
Total		$145,000

Her first spreadsheet stopped at the rig, which came to $116,000. The full number is about a quarter higher. She has $35,000 saved. Because she has no trading history yet, she looks at using some of her home equity for the balance, rather than stretching an unsecured loan she can’t support with takings. She also puts the yearly gas inspection and licence renewal in her calendar, so they don’t land in a slow month without warning.

Before you pay the builder’s deposit

• Three itemised quotes, with stage payments in writing
• Council food registration fee and process confirmed for where the rig will be garaged
• Gas and electrical requirements confirmed with licensed trades
• Duty and rego worked out on the fitted price
• Insurance quotes, including public liability for events
• A month-by-month season plan with your slowest stretch costed
• Working capital you can actually access, not just hope for

Got your number? Let’s see what you can fund

Pricing a food truck honestly is the hard part, and you’ve just done it. The next question is how to pay for the gap between your savings and the full figure, without leaving the first season underfunded. We look at food truck builds, used rigs and first-season working capital all the time. We know a lender wants to see the whole budget, not just the truck.

Tell us what you’re building, the total cost and what you’re putting in. The enquiry takes around 60 seconds, and your credit file isn’t touched when you first enquire. We also don’t pass your details around to a pile of lenders, so your phone won’t light up with strangers. A real person who understands mobile food businesses looks at your situation and calls you to talk it through.

Please fill the form in accurately, especially the amount, what it’s for and whether you own property. That way we can match the right option the first time.

Let’s get your truck on the road →