The food truck packing list that stops you turning back home
A category-by-category packing checklist for mobile food events, plus how to make sure it's actually followed every time.
Nearly every experienced operator has a story about turning back for the EFTPOS terminal, the gas bottle, or the float. A packing list only works if it's specific to your setup and checked off every single time — not something that lives in your memory until it fails you.
Group by category, not by memory order
Cooking equipment, cold storage, front-of-house (till, float, card reader, signage), consumables (cups, napkins, sauces), safety (fire extinguisher, first aid kit) and personal (staff aprons, water, sunscreen). Grouping stops you missing a whole category when you're rushing.
Separate 'always' from 'this event'
Some items live in the truck permanently — the fire extinguisher, the generic signage. Others change per event: a specific banner for a sponsor activation, extra ice for a hot forecast, a different menu board for a shorter festival menu.
Put the float and card reader at the top
The two items that stop you trading entirely — cash float and the card terminal — deserve their own line at the very top of the list, checked twice, not buried among napkins.
Make the last check physical
A tick on a phone screen is easy to fake to yourself. Walking the truck once with the list in hand, touching each item, catches far more gaps than reading a checklist from the driver's seat.
Debrief after events that went wrong
Every time something's forgotten, add it to the list immediately — don't rely on remembering it next time. A packing list that grows from real mistakes becomes genuinely reliable within a season.
Digitise it so it travels with the event
CartFlow attaches a packing list template to every event, so whoever is loading the van — you or a staff member — opens the same checklist your best market days were built on, and can tick it off from their phone.