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Food truck: Why is headcount alone not enough to predict capacity?

Estimate delivery capacity from usable labour hours.

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Food truck / service shift economics
Answer

Availability, nonbillable time, and hours required per sale determine the delivery throughput.

Try this with your own numbers

Formula and worked example

Capacity = staff × hours × utilization / hours per sale

Example figures
InputExample
Delivery staff4
Available hours per staff member160
Billable utilization65 %
Hours per service shift8
Calculated result52 sales per month

Choose reliable inputs

Track purchased quantities, usable yield, labour and waste before deciding on a selling price. For this food truck calculation, use recipe sheets, supplier invoices and stock counts and a consistent definition of one service shift.

  • Ingredients: include the portion belonging to this service shift or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
  • Staffing: include the portion belonging to this service shift or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
  • Site fees: include the portion belonging to this service shift or reporting period, and record where the value came from.

Use the same currency for every money input. Do not mix weekly costs with monthly revenue, or count the same expense in both an itemised cost and allocated overhead.

Why is headcount alone not enough to predict capacity?

Availability, nonbillable time, and hours required per sale determine the delivery throughput.

Assumes interchangeable skills and a stable average job duration.

Compare a different assumption

What if this input changes?

If delivery staff rises by 10%, this example changes by 5.2 sales per month. This shows the effect of one change; it does not predict what will happen.

Open the calculator, save your baseline, then change the input supported by the least reliable estimate in your records. Compare both scenarios before committing to a price or capacity promise.

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