Mobile Coffee Truck Owner who likes to share the info!

[TheGreenJoe]

Hey Everyone,
My name is Vincent LaVolpa. I own the Green Joe Coffee Truck in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have built my coffee truck out of a '74 Scamp. Building the truck took a lot of research and I made a lot of mistakes. I would like to be able to help people not make the mistakes that I have. I'm currently working on creating a online resource that will help entrepreneurs that want to get into the coffee truck business. I send out a monthly newsletter every month that shows how much I'm currently making, currently working, profit percentage and drinks most sold. If I can help anyone chase their dreams, let me know! I'd love to help!

When you get a chance, check out my blog Green Joe Coffee Truck, Albuquerque New Mexico

Good luck everyone!!!

Vincent LaVolpa,
Green Joe Coffee Truck

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

You are a saint! I'm sure a lot of aspiring coffee entrepreneurs will benefit from your willingness to share your knowledge and experiences in starting and running a mobile coffee truck. May you find continued success in all you do!

Doug

 

[TheGreenJoe]

You are a saint! I'm sure a lot of aspiring coffee entrepreneurs will benefit from your willingness to share your knowledge and experiences in starting and running a mobile coffee truck. May you find continued success in all you do!

Doug

Hey Doug, its been a long road with a lot of mishaps and if I can help anyone avoid those mishaps. Thank you so much for the support!

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Hey Doug, its been a long road with a lot of mishaps and if I can help anyone avoid those mishaps. Thank you so much for the support!

I understand your pain! At one time I envisioned the same type of business, although there wasn't as much information available and my mistake killed THAT dream. I bought an Airstream Argosy trailer off eBay, drove it all the way down to SoCal from Oak Harbor WA, and it just turned into a huge money pit as the trailer needed waaaay too much work in order to do what I wanted to do. In hindsight, I should have just refused to buy it when I saw it's true condition, but I was always taught to honor my commitments, so I paid the guy anyway...big mistake, but I retained my own personal integrity and moved on. You've got a fan here, esp. from the retro style of your rig!! Cheers my friend!

 

[CoffeeJunky]

i knew few people did this on their own and when they were done, they didn't have much energy left to run their business..... So this will be great help for some members. I remember many people were looking for help on local health law, licensing issues, and how to get it going. I am sure you will be getting tons of messages.

 

[TheGreenJoe]

i knew few people did this on their own and when they were done, they didn't have much energy left to run their business..... So this will be great help for some members. I remember many people were looking for help on local health law, licensing issues, and how to get it going. I am sure you will be getting tons of messages.

No joke, It was a lot of energy. I remember when I finished, I was thinking, "Okay, now the work begins". Social media platforms. Page rankings. Recipes. Inventory in. Inventory out.

Local law wasn't as hard as I thought. A phone call ahead of time save me a lot of time...

My blog has been going well. Green Joe Coffee Truck, Albuquerque New Mexico

I try to tranform questions into blogs so that everyone can see the answer. We've moving along very well.

Coffee=Community

 

[3rdSpace]

This is such a cool thing to see! I have a passion for coffee and I love to see others who have the same and simply want to share their experiences with others. I hope to one day have a coffee truck or 3rd Wave shop with my wife. Anytime I'm in New Mexico, you know I will stop by! Keep up the tremendous work you are doing and I hope your business does amazing

 

[chuckchance]

Hey Vincent! I love the way your Green Joe turned out!

I for one appreciate the time you have taken on your blog to provide costs and details. I am in the process of building my coffee truck from a 2009 Ford E350 Stepvan.

I am in the electrical build phase and have some questions that I have not been able to find answers to even after speaking to a licensed electrician in my area and Googl'ing for hours. Maybe you or somebody else in here can help.

My total surge power requirements are just shy of 125 amps. Continuous power drops down to under 100. I've decided on a 15kw generator to power my truck, although I am way under-educated on how I transfer all of the power from the generator to my distribution panel. The largest receptacle on my generator is 60A, followed by 2 30's. In order to protect against surge power, I will need to connect cords to all 3 receptacles and somehow connect them up to my distribution panel. How exactly do I make this happen? Should I use an inverter/charger system and why/why not?

Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide and coffee on!

Chuck

 

[TheGreenJoe]

Power needs

Hey Chuck!
Thanks for reaching out. Now, the first thing I have to say is that is a massive amount of power. To put in perspective, my entire truck maybe draws 20 amps (more like 16 but I write 20 to be on the safe side). So, I'm not sure what your powering but that is a huge power need!!! The second is that generator power is considered the perfect power source. As I understand it, it doesn't surge. Which is awesome. As for inverters, to be honest I'm not sure. I'll look into it and see what I can find though!

 

[johnnyd77]

Man thats a pretty cool project. I love NM btw, its a beautiful place.