Accidents happen.

Try as you might, it’s impossible to avoid all incidents with your food trailers.

However, there are a few things you can do to minimize your risk of having an accident at your concession trailer.

3 Times to Be Especially Careful with Your Food Trailer Business

It goes without saying, you should always practice basic food trailer safety – whether at an event or at home. But there are definitely certain times when it’s more important to ensure you’re operating safely.

Here are three moments in your concession trailer operation that you need to pay extra attention to safety.

1. Food Trailer Safety While Towing

Concession trailer safety begins even before you arrive at your event. If you’re not properly prepared, some of the biggest accidents can happen while transporting your food trailer.

Here are a few pre-departure tips to follow to make sure you and your concession trailer arrive safely.

Balance the tire pressure on your tow vehicle and trailer.

Ensure hitch, coupler, draw bar, and other equipment that connect the trailer to your vehicle are properly attached.

Secure all loose items.

Check that all wires are connected and not dragging on the road.

Adjust your mirrors so you have good visibility of the area around your trailer.

It’s also important to make sure your tow vehicle is equipped to handle the weight of your trailer and everything inside of it.

2. Food Trailer Safety While Cooking

When your concession trailer is drawing a crowd, it can be tempting to cut corners with safety to keep the line moving.

You might question what harm not properly wiping down a surface once could do. But in the long run, this could lead to major problems. If the surface was used to prepare meat, you could contaminate all other food placed in that area, which may increase the risk of food-related illnesses for your customers.

Be sure to clean your surfaces, properly store your food, and pick up any spills. These are sure ways to fail a surprise health inspection.

3. Food Trailer Safety While Cleaning Up

You will be tired after a long day in your food trailer business. But don’t take an “I’ll get to it tomorrow” attitude with your cleaning up. You’ll regret it in the morning when you suddenly have bugs and rodents, a major food safety violation.

It’s important to give your work area a good cleaning. Properly put away and secure your equipment. Taking time to do this right will avoid a hassle (and potentially fines) in the long run.

Safety First with Your Food Trailer

Safety precautions and cleaning may not be the most exciting part of your food trailer business, but it might be the most important.

Being fined for a violation and dealing with the negative reputation could wipe away your weekend’s profits and impact your chances of working at that event again in the future.