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Ice Cream Truck Freezers: Your 3 Options

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

There are three ways you can go. Cold Plate Freezer, Chest Freezer, and
Dry Ice Freezer. Each has its pros and cons and while most guys will
recommend the first option I'll let you in on some tips for how you can
save a lot of money by improvising.

Dry Ice Freezer

Dry ice is the solid form of Carbon Dioxide gas, or CO2, and unlike
regular ice it can get a lot colder (109 degrees below zero Fahrenheit)
and stay cold for an entire day. These freezers are basically insulated
containers that you fill with dry ice to cool your freezer. This is the
best option if you are low on startup money, as it will only cost you a
few hundred dollars to get going. However you will have to buy dry ice
daily (unless you keep it in a second freezer at home, which I
suggest), and that will run you 1-2 dollars a pound. You will also have
to be more careful around dry ice because it can hurt you as well as
your ice cream. If you don't pack things right you will have to throw
out a bunch of freezer burnt ice cream each night when you check your
inventory.
Advantage: Price ($300 will get you going)
Disadvantage: Illegal in some places (some towns and most cities
require mechanical freezing)

Chest Freezer

These freezers look similar to what you would use for a dry ice freezer
but they plug into an outlet and keep your ice cream cold by being
constantly on. Technically, you could use a chest freezer like a cold
plate freezer by plugging it in at home and then only going out for a
couple hours but you are taking a big chance that you will melt all
your ice cream and furthermore it will melt faster because you have to
open the entire freezer door every time you get out an ice cream. Cold
plate freezers fix this problem by having multiple doors. But that is
not your biggest concern, because in reality nobody uses a Chest
Freezer without a power source. You can use a generator or a couple
large batteries for power. Either way you are going to have to spend a
few hundred dollars to set that up. A third option is to power the
freezer using your truck's engine, but this involves a indepth
understanding of how to set up an electrical system so that you don't
drain your starter battery and have to get your truck towed.
Advantage: Price ($1,000 for a good setup)
Disadvantage: A pain to set up

VBD-6T_0-

Cold Plate Freezer

These freezers are nice and simple. They are what all the professionals
use but they are a bigger up front investment that many guys can't
afford. I rented my ice cream truck so I got to start off with one but
if you have the money and are serious about your business this is what
you should get. They plug in over night and are cold for the whole day.
You won't have to worry about anything because it doesn't use any power
during the day, and these freezers are also overbuilt with additional
insulation and designed to take the bumps and bruises that come with
being on the road, which chest freezers are not designed for. One flaw
though, they are expensive to fix if they break so pray that doesn't
happen to you.
Advantage: Ease of use, set it and forget it
Disadvantage: Price ($2,500 for a small used one or a larger used one)
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Where to Buy an Ice Cream Truck

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

I would not recommend buying an ice cream truck if you are just getting
started in the business unless you are planning on running your truck
for many summers in the future. However, it is not always easy to find
someone willing to lease an ice cream truck to you. With that said,
here are you options.

1. Craigslist

craigslist-

Craigslist is your best option if you are looking for a cheap truck. If
you spend enough time you should be able to find a truck in the 3000 to
5000 dollar range. Many of the trucks will need to be repainted but
that will not cost you more than a few hundred dollars if you do the
job yourself. The hard part here is finding a good deal in your area
and then testing everything to make sure the truck and the freezer run
properly.

Use Crazedlist to search all the Craigslist listings in your area.
Using Craigslist only allows you to look at the specific area of the
state you are living in, as opposed to the entire state or multi state
area (like New England).

crazedlist-

2. eBay

ebay-logo-

The same advise goes for eBay as for craigslist except there are more
steps involved if you don't already have an eBay account. Most people
who run ice cream trucks are not very web/computer savvy so the people
you will be dealing with on eBay will mostly be selling more expensive
trucks in the 20-60,000 dollar range. If you are looking for a new
truck or something that is really pimped out check out eBay but
otherwise stick to craigslist.

3.Local Ice Cream Truck Companies

This is the way I found my truck. I decided to lease my ice cream truck
and in doing so reduce my up front costs and liability, at the cost of
a dip my long term profits. The truck actually broke down on me a few
times over the course of the summer, including one embarrassing
breakdown in an intersection where I literally blocked traffic for 10
minutes when my engine died.

You never know what you will find or what opportunities you will come
across. You may find someone who wants to get rid of their entire
business and you could take over for them. You could find someone who
is looking for a driver, which would allow you to learn the ropes
without buying a truck first. You may find a mentor that will help you
along for years to come. You may learn about your competition, and how
the succeed so you can copy their model. No matter what you end up
doing call and email around and you will be surprised about what you
come across.

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4. Buy a step van and convert it

Many Ice Cream trucks, including mine, was converted from a step van.
Only a few dedicated ice cream trucks were ever produced; most are
conversions. Conversion is actually quite simple, you can get away with
installing a side window and bolting the freezer to the body of the van
and you are all set to go. I would suggest you have a shop install the
window and freezer for you but you can do it yourself if you have the
right tools.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

7 Ice Cream Truck Supplies You Absolutely Need

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

There are lots of things you need to have with you before you head out.
Its not all about the ice cream.
1. Napkins. You need to have at least a hundred of these before you
leave. I like to get the full sized ones at Market Basket and then
hand them out to my customers after they pay for their ice cream.
2. Spoons. The wooden "spoons" that come with your ice creams are
plain and annoying to use. A cheap way to make your customers happy
is to spend a dollar at a party store and get 20 multicolored, full
sized spoons that you can give out with your treat. If you are
selling hard ice cream make sure you invest in some high quality
plastic spoons that won't snap in your ice cream. Black or clear
spoons look better than white ones if you can't get colored ones.
3. Towels. You need these to wipe off the condensation on your
freezer, to clean your serving counter, and to clean up any messes
that you make in your truck. I keep 3 clean ones in my truck at all
times.
4. Purell. Have a 12 oz bottle of this stashed behind your serving
window and put it out on your counter when you stop. People really
appreciate it and will be more willing to spend an extra 25 or 50
cents on your product when they see you are so concerned with
cleanliness. purell pal-

1. Music Box. People need to know when you arrive and the ice cream
truck song always gets people's hearts racing and excited to buy
your ice cream.
2. Lights. Lighting is important especially if you plan on selling at
night. Put a fluorescent light bulb over your serving counter so
people can see you and your decals. A interior light is also
required if you plan on seeing anything inside your truck. You can
use Christmas lights to add some flavor to the inside and outside
of your truck on the cheap.
3. Garbage Can. I found this old metal garbage bin that was about 2
feet wide and 3 feet tall that worked perfect for me. I spray
painted it red to match my truck and then put it outside my truck
when I stopped. People hate having to carry around a wrapper and
they will appreciate your bin. I started doing this and within a
week both of my competitors had garbage cans outside their trucks
whenever they stopped.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Buying a Used Ice Cream Truck is Like Choosing a Girlfriend

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

No matter how careful you are, you can never be sure of what you are
getting into until its too late and then you are in it for the long
haul. Here is a plan for you to go by:
1. Do your research. Start on eBay and Craigslist. Some people call
their trucks ice cream vans so search for both. Check out local
used car dealerships as well as local ice cream truck companies. If
you can't find something in your price range look at used step vans
that you can convert.
2. Print out all the information about the trucks you are interested
in and prioritize. Make a list of which trucks to look at and get
directions on Google Maps.
3. Talk to each seller and ask as many questions as possible. They
will bend the truth in their favor but while they talk your ear off
get them to give you tips on how to run your truck or anything else
you don't understand about the ice cream truck business. Get their
cell phone number and write down all the details about the truck on
the page you printed out. You will forget what they tell you unless
you write it down so make sure you bring a pen.
4. Once you look at a few trucks make a decision. If you don't like
any of them you can wait but you don't have forever. Don't let a
truck that is $500 out of your price range stop you. You need to
get started asap and you will make that money back by being able to
start as early as possible in the spring.

Questions to Ask

How many previous owners were there and how did they use the truck? Get
the details on these owners. If the truck was part of a fleet you can
be more confident that it was maintained regularly.

How was the ice cream truck used? Was it always an ice cream truck? A
delivery truck will usually be in better condition than a factory built
ice cream truck if they have the same number of miles on them because
ice cream trucks are getting stop and go miles whereas delivery trucks
are on the highway every day and don't make stops as frequently.

How old is the freezer? The condenser is very expensive to replace on a
cold plate freezer so you want to make sure that it is in working
condition and won't need to be replaced soon.

What repairs have been done on the truck? If an expensive part on the
truck has been replaced or fixed recently then this adds value to the
truck. A recently replaced transmission, for example, or new tie rods
and ball joints, will ensure that you won't have to replace or repair
those parts for a while.

Top 3 Things to Check
1. Listen to the engine and transmission when you go on your test
drive. If the engine is making weird clicking or coughing sounds
you have a problem. A piston may be misfiring or a spark plug wire
could be burned through. Make sure to accelerate hard when you
drive and listen to the tranny and make sure that it doesn't slip
or clunk when you shift into drive or reverse.
2. Check the oil and tranny fluid. The oil should be clear and coffee
colored. If it is sludgy or creamy colored that means you could
have a leak in the head gasket that is allowing antifreeze into
your oil system. The tranny fluid should be red and clear. If it
smells burnt then you have a problem.
3. Plug the freezer in and get it down to temp. Ideally you should
call beforehand and have the guy plug it in. Bring a thermometer
and measure the temperature. It should be between -15 and -20
degrees Fahrenheit.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ice Cream Truck Ice Cream -- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know and More

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

I always wondered as a kid why I couldn't find the ice cream that I got
from the ice cream truck at my local Stop and Shop. The ice cream from
the ice cream truck was always bigger and better and had a cool wrapper
too.

Who Makes Ice Cream Truck Ice Cream?

There are a few large ice cream conglomerates and some of them own
multiple brands. You can often tell by the style of the decals which
companies have the same parent company. For example Popsicle, Klondike,
and Good Humor are all owned by Unilever. Beginning in early 2010 Blue
Bunny has been marketing heavily and has been trying to take some of
Unilever's market share. Part of both of their strategies has been to
bring novelties that used to only be sold from trucks into
supermarkets, and this hurts us. Some vendors have even reported that
they could get some of their ice creams from Wallmart cheaper than from
their distributor.

300px-Klondike_logo.svg-

Why is it Different from Ice Cream at the Store

Ice cream companies purposefully keep many of their novelties
exclusive to ice cream truck vendors to protect their market. However
this has changed a little and companies like Blue Bunny now have
freezers full of ice cream at many gas stations and convenience stores
around the country. They have realized that selling individual ice
creams to people in stores and gas stations is higher volume than
keeping everything exclusive just to ice cream truck drivers. However,
the ice cream truck industry is still a huge buyer and the ice cream
companies are not planning on selling us out any time soon. There will
always be more than enough options for you to sell unique novelties out
of your truck.

How to Find a Distributor

I am based in the suburbs of Boston so I used New England Ice Cream. If
you do a simple Google search for Ice Cream Distributor + TOWN YOU LIVE
IN that should get you started. You will not find prices on any of
their websites as they don't want you comparison shopping. To get
prices you will have to call or send an email to a representative, but
it's better to call. If you have never been to one before you may even
want to drive down to the nearest one to get a feel for things.

big blue bunny logo-

Ask About What Companies they Distribute

Not all distributors carry every product. There are some local or
lesser known ice cream companies that you can use for the simple ice
creams like eclairs, fudge bars, and orange creamsicles that are much
cheaper than their Good Humor alternatives (though to be honest they do
NOT taste as good). Certain distributors will also try to push certain
brands on you.

I had trouble getting Richies Italian Ice (They now sell prepackaged
containers) because they only carried some no name competitor called
Ronnies. If you have ever had Richies you will agree that it is much
better, and the container was also shaped like an actual Richies cup,
whereas the Ronnies was identical to the same version you could buy at
the supermarket. I avoid selling identical products as much as possible
because it hurts your reputation when people think you are overcharging
them for something they can get in the store. You will notice that many
ice cream bars that you buy from the supermarket are significantly
smaller than the versions that you get from your distributor. Again,
they make it a lot bigger to keep the markets separate so that people
can't mentally say to themselves "I'm paying the same for the EXACT
same thing."

The Distribution Process

Each individual novelty is packaged in a factory in a square foot
sized box a few inches thick, in either a 12 pack or a 24 pack. Each of
these boxes, which are usually unmarked except for a serial code
stamped on the side, is put inside a box of 6 or so boxes, in a larger
box 2 or three feet wide. These are then packaged on a pallet that is
loaded in a truck and delivered to the distributor from the plant. You
can buy as much or as little as you want but most places have a policy
that they won't allow you to return ice cream so don't go overboard.
With that said, I would suggest that you get an additional chest
freezer to keep extra inventory at your home or wherever you park your
truck.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How to Paint an Ice Cream Truck

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

First impressions matter. No parent is going to want to take their kid
to a dumpy(or worse, creepy), rusty old hunk of junk ice cream truck,
no matter how good your ice cream might be (well, this may not be
completely true but it doesn't take much effort to have a clean looking
truck and it makes a lasting impression.)People are going to make
assumptions based on how professional your paint job is and it's your
job to keep your truck looking good.

Finding inspiration

Figuring out what you want your truck to look like is one of the
hardest decisions you will have to make. Once you paint it you can't go
back without loosing all the familiarity that people have built up with
your old image. Here are some ideas:

The "Baby"

Cream5.preview-

This design is good because it appeals to kids and looks good without
being overly complicated. It has a nice retro look and you would be
able to do this on your own, though it would take a lot of time (tens
of hours) to finish. I would have separated the "Ice Cream" text out a
little more with a white background bubble behind the text to make it
stand out more.

The "Plain Jane"

3453756490_a1c4b06480_o-

This truck is simple, elegant, and gets the job done. This look is
better if you are driving around in the suburbs as opposed to the city,
where this truck paint job won't grab people's attention as well.
Notice also how the decals are positioned. Similar ice creams are
grouped together, and decals with similarly colored background's are
grouped together as well.

The "American Dream"

113131962_80477bc5c2_o-

You can't go wrong with red white and blue. This picture looks like it
is a little old but I actually really like the old school look. If you
can paint your wheels like this guy did, it ads some character to your
truck. If you are doing soft serve or hard ice cream I would suggest
you go this route because you will appeal to more adults. This is what
ice cream trucks used to look like back in the day and the
illustrations on the side of the truck of the sundae and shake give
this truck a lot of class. This design is great for basically anywhere;
beaches, in the city, and out in the suburbs too.

The "Cow"

icecream2-

This is a great example of how to make a cargo van work for you. On the
creepiness scale this van is pretty close to zero. I would guess that
this van would do well anywhere, and would attract a lot of adults who
were interested in the organic food movement. If you are operating in a
low income area this may not be the best option for you; a good spot in
a city or a wealth suburb would be ideal. I would also recommend this
look for someone with more money to invest and who is serving hard ice
cream or soft serve, as you will be attracting more adults and people
who are willing to spend more for a high quality treat.

How much do you want to spend?

A good paint job from a professional is going to set you back at least
$1000. If that is too much (it was for me) you will have to paint it
yourself. I painted mine using white automotive paint with a roller and
a small paintbrush for the corners and detail work, and used automotive
spray paint for color details. If you do it on your own and stick to a
few simple colors you can get it done for under $200.

What will you need?

Automotive Paint - You can get away with spray paint but you don't want
to use spray paint for your entire truck. No matter how good you are
with spray cans you will not be able to get a perfectly even coat and
you will start seeing drips of paint running down the side of your
truck after you put on just a little too much. I painted my truck
"Fleet White" and paid about $70 for a gallon. I needed a gallon and a
half for my truck, which was a full sized ice cream truck, so if you
have a van or a short truck you could get away with one gallon.

Rollers - Rollers are the best way to put the paint on if you are doing
it yourself on the cheap. The edges of the roller do show up when you
put on the first couple coats but when you are on the last coats
(usually 4th or 5th) the edges will disappear. Know, however, that the
finish won't be like the factory paint on a normal car, it will not be
shiny or perfectly smooth. You get what you pay for though and if you
are going for a simple design nobody will care.

Roller Trays - Get a few of these, and don't get the cheap flimsy ones.
I spilled a bunch of paint on myself because I got these 50 cent ones
from Home Depot. Spent a little extra or just get one sturdy one that
you can reuse.

Sanding Paper- Get the rough stuff. Make it easy on yourself and get a
sanding tool or a handle to hold onto when you are sanding.

Face Mask - After the first day of painting I developed a cough from
the fumes that lasted for almost a full week. I bought the mask and was
surprised how cheap they are, about 15 bucks. Don't get the paper ones
that you see people wearing in smoggy cities, go for the ones that have
a filter and are made out of rubber.

maks1-

Clothes - *Note: I started by going against all this advice and karma
punished me.* Wear shoes you don't care about and long sleeves and
jeans. Also always have gloves on. I don't say this because I am a
clean freak, its because you WILL get paint on you and it is very hard
to get off. You won't be able to rub it off when you are done with soap
and water; it will stay on your skin for two or three days at least and
if you are painting with red you will get weird looks. I also started
wearing plastic glasses after I almost got paint splattered in my eye
when I was putting my brush into a can of paint. I don't understand how
it splashed up but it did, so if I were you I would wear the glasses,
especially since you are already going to be uncomfortable with the
paint mask on.

How to Paint

I'll keep this short since its not too hard....but if you aren't an
expert painter you shouldn't skip this. Oh, and before you do anything
take a picture. It will be cool when you are done to have a before and
after pic.

0. Sand around the sides of the truck, but you don't have to go crazy
except on the spots where the paint has chipped off. You want to sand
down those edges until they are smooth.

1. Put tape on and around anything you don't want to get paint on. This
includes door handles, the rubber edges of windows and the rubber on
your wheels. Make sure you push the tape on tight because if you don't
you will pull it off and paint will have seeped underneath it. This
happened to me and I had to use a wire brush and this strong noxious
paint remover to get it off.

2. Put on your first coat of paint. Don't try to put it on thick and
don't let air bubbles form. When they do form just keep on rolling over
them till they go away. You are going to have to do 4 or 5 coats
minimum, which yes is very annoying, but just accept it and go slow.
Maybe put on some music. Don't worry too much about leaving edge marks
at the edges of the roller, they are find as long as its not raised up
above the rest of the paint. Spread the paint as thin as you can and
you will do fine.

3. Wait 15 to 30 mins between coats. What I did was start on one side
of the truck and work my way from left to right. By the time I got to
the right edge the paint on the left side was just getting dry enough
to put a second coat on. You can tell its ready if you put your finger
on the paint and it's not tacky anymore.

4. Take off the paint and make any touch-ups with a small handbrush.

How to Use Spray Paint

This is the stuff I used:

41sNFjerLdL._SL500_AA300_-

It's not cost effective to buy a full gallon of auto paint if you just
need a red stripe down the side of your truck or want some bright green
bumpers. There are two way to use spraypaint for smaller areas on your
truck.

1. Spray for about 30 seconds into a cup or the cap of the can until
you have enough liquid to paint with. Then paint it on using a
handbrush. The paint is thin so you will have to do 3 coats at least
using the brush, which is annoying.

2. Mask off the area with tape and use a full sheet of newspaper around
the area in addition to the masking tape to isolate the area you are
coloring. I tried just using masking tape to spraypaint the curved
little plastic awning above my window blue and I ended up with a bunch
of little particles of blue paint on the white side of my truck that I
had to paint over with 5 coats of fleet white to completely hide. I did
my bumpers with newspaper and didn't have any problems. You would be
surprised how wide the cone of spray for these spray cans actually
is...
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What is a Cold Plate Freezer?

Posted on July 22, 2011 by timothy

A cold plate freezer is simply a freezer that you plug in at night and
stays cold during the day. The cold plates are filled with a saline
solution that is cooled by a compressor that is bolted to the top of
the freezer which cools the inside.

coldplatewithcooler-

Your cold plate freezer will have either 1, 2, or 3 freezer bays and an
optional drinks bay, which is equivalent to a refrigerator. Note that
the coldest bay will be the one closes to the compressor, and the bays
get slightly warmer as you get farther away from the compressor. The
freezer will also stay colder at the bottom, so it's best to store
extra ice cream near the bottom so that it does not melt and then
refreeze.

VBD-8T_1-

Some health inspectors will not know what a cold plate freezer is or
understand how it can work without a generator. Some older trucks used
to use dry ice to keep the ice cream cold but that is no longer allowed
in many towns and cities. The new regulations require "mechanical"
cooling, so you will have to explain to your inspector how the freezer
works. It would be a good idea to plug it in the night before your
inspection to show how it works and bring along a printout of this page
from nelson, the biggest cold plate freezer company.

Cold Plate Freezer Facts
-Can bring temperature down to -20F
-Will not go above 0F even on a hot day
-Cost between $2,500 and $7,500
-More reliable than dry ice or freezers that require constant power
-Best insulation and have small doors that let less warm air in

You can buy a used cold plate freezer for about $2500 - $3,500 but a
new one will cost anywhere between $5,000 and $7,000. You can save
money by buying a truck that comes with a freezer, or by purchasing a
smaller freezer. While a big freezer is nice you can get away with a
small freezer if you pack it more tightly and organize it well.

One final tip: always check to make sure all your doors are kept
closed. You will forget the first couple days out but especially if
you are working with someone new just assume they will leave the
freezer open. You can potentially loose hundreds of dollars worth of
ice cream if you leave your freezer doors open so make it a habit to
check your doors every 15 minutes and before you leave a location.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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* Recent Posts
+ Ice Cream Truck Freezers: Your 3 Options
+ Where to Buy an Ice Cream Truck
+ 7 Ice Cream Truck Supplies You Absolutely Need
+ Buying a Used Ice Cream Truck is Like Choosing a Girlfriend
+ Ice Cream Truck Ice Cream -- Everything You Ever Wanted to
Know and More
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+ mike on Getting Started Guide
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Enter your search keyword(s) and the keyword "zorgium" into the search input field of http://bing.com, http://yahoo.com or http://google.com.

Heads up: There's an ongoing spamdexing of Google searchbot algorithms. Sites that are 'copies of copies' and cloaked sites which include Zorgium keywords presented to search engine crawlers yet garbage content presented to human visitors were hosted on thousands of IP addresses and domains registered immediately after the introduction of Zorgium in November of 2009. The Hostgator/'The Planet'/Softlayer datacenters in Texas seem to be the epicenter of this activity in conjunction with anonymously registered domains of various TLD's but primarily .info domains at Godaddy which, in our opinion, has some sort of connection to the domains of goldmint.in and goldmint.org. Google has begun to notice this and has begun to lower the ranking of these sites and put our original sites back on top of the search rankings. These actions, as far as we can tell, negatively impact the use of the keyword 'zorgium' as a search term and provided little benefit, if any, to the perpetrators.

ZORGIUM note to content providers: If you don't want your page to appear in Zorgium's search abstraction then put an exclusion for "Zorgium" in your web server's robots.txt file.

DISCLAIMER: Zorgium is a free world-wide-web engine from AZ.COM. You may use it, but by doing so you agree that your use of other people's information discovered via our website is entirely your responsibility. Enjoy!