America's love affair with food trucks is going strong.
In the past year, customer searches for food trucks and carts have surged on Thumbtack.com, a site that connects more than a million small businesses with prospective clients.
"Our food truck business has exploded since last year," said Vincent Marra, owner and executive chef of Gotta Have it, an Atlanta food truck.
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Customers are hiring him 10 to 25 times a week for weddings, corporate events and private parties. He said business has grown 110% in the year and a half since launching.
"People like the novelty of it," he said. "And it can be 25% to 30% less expensive than full catering."
He said the upfront cost to launch a food truck business is a minimum $55,000.
"You can recoup that within a year. We did, but that's rare," said Marra. "Be aware that this isn't a get rich quick type of business."