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East Texas food truck owners feeling the pinch at the pump

With the high cost of food, restaurant supplies, and now gas.. the service industry on wheels are finding ways to spread out the cost.

High fuel prices are something anyone that drives can relate to but some local business owners are getting hit with high costs from all angles thanks to the price hike of gasoline. 

Amanda Longacre, co-owner of Cajun food truck Catch Me if You Can, said the last few months have been challenging for the food service industry.

"A couple of months ago we did have to bite the bullet and raise our prices a bit." Longacre said. "We have to pick out our spaces that we set up pretty strategically."

That's because food truck operators like Amanda have more than one tank to fill when it comes to keeping things running smoothly.

"Our fuel each week is probably between four and five-hundred dollars between our two trucks and our generator," Longacre said.

To keep prices fair for the customer while still providing high quality meals Longacre and her husband have managed to reduce costs in other ways.

"We have had to turn a few things down because of the distance," Longacre said.

Fellow food truck owner, Billy White of Billy Bob's grill, used a similar method to spread out the expenses.

"If we travel anywhere 30 miles outside of Troup, we've had to put on basically a travel fee for private events just to cover gas to go out there," White said.

Explaining that his dollar stretches into operating costs the customer may not see.

“We’re using propane for all of our cooking," White said. "Then, the gas for the generator, I mean on average, we’re running probably around 12 to 13 hours a day and just the generator alone is maybe two to three hundred dollars a day depending on where we’re at."

Both food truck owners agree that the customers who continue to come back and support the local stops help keep the wheels turning.

"We'll keep it low as long as we possibly can, and keep everyone fed for whoever wants anything," White said.

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