from the article:

> But the restaurant industry fights to limit food trucks. On average, food trucks must handle 45 separate regulatory procedures and spend $28,276 on associated fees.

Lets napkin-math this. If we assume a food truck has margins at the upper end of the fast-casual industry of 9%, then each $18 burger-and-fries nets 1.62 in profit.

$28,276 / 1.62 = 17,454 burgers-and-fries.

If you were open every day of the year and assume no seasonality, that means your first 49 orders every day go just to regulatory fees.

And that doesn't cover any of the other fees and expenses a food truck might have.

Those are brutal economics. I'm impressed it's only $18!

1. food trucks are subject to lots of regulation and fees too

2. burrito trucks sell their burritos at the market clearing price for a burrito, which is $18 because most of that burrito truck's competition is brick-and-mortar restaurants with expensive rent because of zoning laws.