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Food Service Vehicles

Food and Beverage Trailer Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist

A guided, do-it-yourself pre-purchase inspection checklist for used towed food trailers and coffee or beverage trailers, from full kitchens with fryers, griddles, grills and steam tables to espresso and drinks trailers. No mechanic needed: each check tells you what to look for and what counts as a fail, from permits and your health department's approval to the trailer frame, axles, bearings, brakes and tires, hood and fire suppression, propane, generator, water, refrigeration, espresso machines and every cooking appliance, plus a full service test. Not for self-driven food trucks or push carts.

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90 days of access. Inspect and compare up to 12 items of this type.

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What you get

  • No mechanic needed. Most checks need only your eyes, a flashlight and a tire gauge; a few optional deeper checks go further if you have the tools or bring in a mechanic.
  • A guided checklist written for this kind of purchase: every question says what to look for and what counts as a fail. Ready to use the moment you pay.
  • Inspect on your phone: answers save as you go, with photos and notes on any question.
  • Send it to a mechanic, supervisor, colleague, or employee by text or email. They need no account.
  • A report that puts the problems first, with photos, times and location.
  • Inspect and compare up to 12 vehicles, machines or trailers of the same type with one purchase, side by side, before you decide.

Known problems, checked

Comes with a guide to the known problems and red flags to watch for.

How it works

  1. Choose a checklistPick the one that matches what you are buying, and pay by card. No account to set up first.
  2. Add what you are inspectingEnter the item, the asking price and where it is. Add as many as you are considering.
  3. Inspect it, or send itWork through the checklist on your phone, or send it to a mechanic, supervisor, colleague, or employee to do for you.
  4. Read the report and compareSee the problems first, with photos. Put your options side by side and decide.

What it covers 113 questions

  • Records, Permits and Ownership11 questions
  • Frame, Tongue and Coupler7 questions
  • Setup and Leveling2 questions
  • Axles, Suspension and Hubs7 questions
  • Brakes and Breakaway6 questions
  • Wheels and Tires7 questions
  • Lights and Wiring3 questions
  • Kitchen Body and Layout8 questions
  • Hood and Fire Safety9 questions
  • Propane and Gas6 questions
  • Electrical and Generator8 questions
  • Water and Sanitation6 questions
  • Refrigeration and Holding4 questions
  • Fryers5 questions
  • Griddles and Flat Tops3 questions
  • Grills and Charbroilers2 questions
  • Steam Tables and Heated Wells2 questions
  • Pizza Ovens2 questions
  • Wood or Charcoal Cooking2 questions
  • Coffee and Beverage Equipment5 questions
  • Full Service Test3 questions
  • Tow Test4 questions
  • Final Review1 question

A sample of the questions

  • VIN, title and history
  • Frame rust and cracks
  • Stabilizer jacks and leveling
  • Axle labels and ratings
  • Brake type and requirement
  • Tire type and load range
  • Trailer plug
  • Kitchen floor

This is a sample. The full checklist is yours when you buy.

Before You Start

You don't need a mechanic or to be a mechanic to conduct this inspection. Most questions need only your eyes, a flashlight and a few low-cost tools, and each one tells you exactly what to do and what counts as a fail.

Allow about half a day: the trailer, the kitchen, a short tow test and at least 2 hours of refrigerators, cooking and beverage equipment running.

For towed food and beverage trailers: full kitchens, light-food trailers and coffee or drinks trailers, with gas or electric equipment. Not for self-driven food trucks, which have their own checklist, or for push carts and vending carts.

Do this first, before you travel to see the trailer: send your health department (and fire marshal) the trailer's photos, equipment list and your menu, and ask whether it can be permitted as it is. Health permits usually do not transfer to a new owner.

Before you go, ask the seller to:

  • Have the title, permits, inspection reports, builder records and service records ready.
  • Fill the fresh water tank and the propane, and fuel the generator.
  • Have the oil in the fryers, the espresso machine ready to run, and the kitchen clean enough to inspect.
  • Park on firm, level ground with room to set the stabilizers and open the service window, awning and every door.
  • Agree a short tow test with your vehicle, and time to run the whole kitchen.

Go in daylight. Never get under the trailer while it is held up only by a jack or its stabilizers. Do not stand on the roof. Close the propane and do not light anything if you smell gas. Never heat an empty fryer or put water in hot oil.

Answer every question as indicated. Answer each appliance section once; if there are two of the same appliance (two fryers, say), check both and write both readings in the note. Skip sections for equipment the trailer does not have (answer Not applicable).

Questions marked "Deeper check" are optional and need a licensed gas fitter or an appliance technician.

Write readings in the note, and add a photo of anything that fails.

Bring:

  • A flashlight
  • A probe thermometer, and a surface (infrared or contact) thermometer
  • 3 or 4 refrigerator thermometers, or extra probe thermometers
  • A basic multimeter, for the batteries and the generator voltage
  • A spray bottle of soapy water and a small brush, for the gas leak test
  • A tread depth gauge and a tire pressure gauge
  • A trailer plug tester, and a bottle jack and jack stand for the bearing check
  • An infrared thermometer, for the hubs after towing
  • A straightedge (a metal ruler or level), for the griddle
  • A step ladder, to see the roof
  • Gloves and paper towels
Tools for a Deeper Inspection (Optional)

You don't need any of these to use this checklist. The deeper checks need a licensed professional with their own tools:

  • A licensed gas fitter, with a manometer for the gas pressure and tightness test
  • An appliance technician, to test fryer high-limit safeties and gas valves
  • An espresso machine technician, for a boiler and pressure service if the machine has no records
  • A licensed fire suppression company, to service and certify the hood suppression system
  • A trailer shop, to pull the hubs and drums and check the bearings and brakes
Sources and Standards
  • FieldDone pre-purchase inspection protocol for food and beverage trailers (October 2026)
  • Your trailer's axle and brake manuals, and the manuals for each appliance, matched to their model and serial numbers
  • Your local health department's and fire marshal's mobile food unit rules (they decide what is required)
  • FDA Food Code (the model most US health departments adopt)
  • Example permitting guide, Public Health Seattle and King County
  • NFPA food truck safety fact sheet (copy hosted by Texas A&M EHS)
  • ANSUL R-102 restaurant fire suppression system
  • NHTSA recall lookup
  • Dexter light-duty axle service manual
  • Vulcan fryer operation resources
  • Hatco heated wells manual
  • Middleby Marshall oven technical publications
  • La Marzocco support
  • BUNN manuals