INDIANAPOLIS—In Indiana not all counties have a license for food trucks. If they do, often times the standards vary from county to county. A bill at the statehouse would change that.
For food truck operators like Clinton Golden, running a food truck has always been a dream of his. The veteran use to work for the Department of Children Services but after he retired, he started operating Real Slab Masterz with two of his friends he calls brothers. They each learned how to throw down on the grill thanks to their families.
"I think everybody got a little piece from their family whether it's a father or grandfather grandmother,” Golden said. “We have a bit of every one of our family members and it's just being around the grill since we were young. "
It’s such a family affair that each grill on their truck is named after each of the gentleman's grandmothers. He admits that getting a food truck up and running can be costly just like the inspections and certifications food trucks need to operate.
"Depending on the city you go to, Noblesville’s permit is 1,000 dollars for a year and that's just for one year for food trucks on top of you need Hamilton County license,” Golden said. “So, you have to check in with the cities that you go to, to make sure you are up to par or they will shut your operation down."
House bill 1285 would change that. It would require that all local health departments create food truck licenses. It would also put a cap on how much fees could be.
Inspection fee's wouldn't be able to exceed 50 dollars and no more than 150 dollars a year for application fees. The bill would also require that food truck standards are the same across the state.
“Making sure that there's no additions or subtractions in any of the counties so those are the great steps there,” Brian Krider the CEO of Ben's Soft Pretzels said.
Krider has been working on getting universal standards for food trucks over the past three years. His companyoperates food trucks in 17 states. He would like to see a universal license from the state that covers all 92 counties. He says states like Michigan have this kind of license and it works efficiently.
"What we are saying is we are living by the code, we have done everything we are suppose to. Just don't charge us every time we go out,” Krider said.
That license aspect isn’t yet apart of the bill. It’s something owners like Golden support. The bill passed out of the house with a vote of 74-22 with most democrats voting against it. It now heads to the senate for consideration.
