Mandatory commissary kitchen adds $1,500/mo before a single sale

Nearly every state requires food trucks to affiliate with a licensed commissary kitchen for food prep, storage, and wastewater disposal — even if the truck has a fully equipped onboard kitchen. In cities like Los Angeles and New York, commissary fees run $1,000-$1,500/month, and full-service options with parking and storage hit $3,000/month. For a food truck grossing $15,000-$25,000/month with typical 7-8% net margins, the commissary fee alone consumes 6-20% of gross revenue. The operator can't skip it: no commissary agreement means no health permit, which means no vending permit. This creates a structural barrier to entry that disproportionately hurts first-time operators and favors multi-truck fleet owners who negotiate volume discounts. The requirement persists because health departments wrote the rules assuming food trucks lack adequate onboard sanitation infrastructure, and the rules haven't been updated even as modern truck builds include three-compartment sinks, 40+ gallon water systems, and commercial-grade refrigeration.