Food Truck Permits in Texas: The Complete 2026 Guide to the New Statewide Licence

Everything you read about Texas food truck permits before July 2026 is out of date. On 1 July 2026 the Mobile Food Vendor Regulatory Consistency Act took effect and replaced two hundred city and county permit systems with a single licence from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Houston’s medallion, Dallas’s class permits, Austin’s restricted and unrestricted tiers and San Antonio’s three fee bands are gone; the statewide licence took their place, with three types, published fees and a 14 day inspection clock. What the cities kept is fire, zoning and location, which is where the work still is.

This guide lays out the new system as it stands in October 2026: the licence types and fees, the application and the inspection, the commissary exemption, the water and equipment rules, the food handler and manager requirements, what each major city still controls, fire permits and propane limits city by city, sales tax, business setup, the market and the climate. We build food trucks and trailers in Colorado and ship nationwide, and Texas is the largest market in the country, so every figure here carries its source.

What changed and why

House Bill 2844, signed in June 2025, created chapter 437B of the Health and Safety Code. From 1 July 2026 nobody may operate as a mobile food vendor in Texas without a DSHS licence and no local health department may issue its own food truck permit. The law also tells the state what its rules may not do: cap the number of licences, set operating hours, restrict propane below the state’s commercial vehicle limits, impose a distance from restaurants, require a handwash sink on a prepackaged only truck, require a commissary where the truck carries what it needs and disposes of its waste properly, require fingerprints or GPS trackers, require constant motion, or require a second fire inspection within 12 months of a passed state or local one. A locality may not prohibit a licensed truck that complies with its non conflicting local law, but licensees must still obey local fire codes, zoning and location restrictions.

The year before, Senate Bill 1008 had capped local health fees at the state’s amounts, which is why Houston, Harris County, Lubbock, Amarillo and Dallas County all dropped their permits to $258 in September 2025. That number is now history too.

The licence: three types and the fees

The rules are in the new chapter 226 of title 25 of the Texas Administrative Code, effective May 2026, and the DSHS mobile food vendor page is the working reference. The vocabulary changed with the law: the vehicle is a food vending vehicle and the business is a mobile food vendor; the old term mobile food unit is gone.

Type I is for vendors handling no time and temperature controlled food, such as prepackaged ice cream and snacks: $309 to apply, no pre licensing inspection. Type II is for prepackaged temperature controlled food or limited handling, which covers most coffee trucks, snow cone trailers and hot dog carts: $618 to apply plus a $400 pre licensing inspection, with a $400 routine inspection fee paid at each renewal. Type III is for a vehicle that prepares, cooks, holds and serves food, which is every burger, barbecue and taco truck: $876 to apply plus a $500 pre licensing inspection and $500 a year at renewal. Those figures include the Texas.gov transaction fee; the rule’s base amounts are $300, $600 and $850. An amendment costs half the application fee and a late renewal $100. Complaint inspections are billed at $300, $400 or $500 by type.

The licence runs one year from the date of issue, which DSHS treats as the date the pre licensing inspection is passed, is issued per vehicle and cannot be transferred. Renewal does not require a new pre licensing inspection unless the type changes or the vehicle is replaced.

Applying

Applications go through the DSHS online licensing system. The statute lists what goes in: the applicant’s details and 12 months of addresses, a description of the process and the menu, any prior denials, and for each vehicle the plate, VIN, registration, insurance and proof of loaded weight from TxDOT, a list of intended locations, which may simply be a link to your website or social media, and a notarised statement of truth. The state, or a local health department working under a collaborative agreement, must inspect within 14 days of a complete application. Local departments inspecting on the state’s behalf as of August 2026 include Houston Health, Dallas County, Tarrant County, Arlington, El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo, Corpus Christi and Fort Bend County; the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and Harris County Public Health are not on the list, so trucks there are inspected by the state. At the inspection the vehicle must be fully functional with no external water or electricity connected.

Vendors who held a local permit on 1 July 2026 could keep operating after applying, with proof of the local permit, the fees paid and the application summary on the vehicle. A new vendor cannot operate until the pre licensing inspection is passed.

The itinerary rule

A licensed vendor gives DSHS a list of planned locations with dates and times at least seven days before the first date, or posts it on a website or social media. A truck that cannot be found can have its licence suspended. GPS trackers may not be required.

Readily movable

There is no fixed location licence. A food vending vehicle must stay readily movable: wheels on, no skirting, not on blocks, no alterations that reduce mobility. It may connect to utilities only to fill potable water, empty waste or take temporary electricity, and it may not stay connected to water or sewer or depend on external power or gas to operate. A trailer that must be plumbed in to work is not a mobile food vendor; it is a fixed establishment under the ordinary retail food permit, which is a different licence with its own two year fee tiers.

The commissary exemption

This is the biggest practical change. Under the new rule a food vending vehicle operates from a central preparation facility or another fixed food establishment and reports to it as the regulatory authority requires, with no fixed daily interval written into the rule, unless it meets every condition of the exemption: adequate cold and hot holding on board; protected storage for food and utensils; a three compartment sink large enough to submerge the largest utensil; potable water from an approved source, not an untested well or a private residence; sewage disposed to an approved servicing facility or a sewage transport vehicle; and records kept on the vehicle with the addresses and authorisation letters for water and wastewater, plus the TxDOT loaded weight records. A truck built self contained, which is how we build every unit, qualifies.

If you do use a central preparation facility, a signed letter of authorisation is required unless you own it, the facility’s latest inspection report goes with your records, and a private residence can never be the facility or the servicing area. Pushcarts always need one. A servicing area needs overhead protection, except for closed hose filling and dumping, a separate liquid waste area and a smooth graded surface, and the vehicle keeps a servicing log of every water fill and every sewage and grease disposal. One Houston specific wrinkle survives: because of the city’s consent decree on grease, not every central preparation facility there is authorised to service trucks, and Houston Health publishes a list of 16 approved servicing areas.

What the state requires on the truck

Trucks and trailers must be fully enclosed. A handwash sink is required inside the vehicle for anything other than prepackaged only vendors, and a three compartment sink with hot and cold water under pressure. Cold holding at 41 degrees and hot holding at 135. The potable tank must be labelled Potable Water and the permanently installed, leak proof wastewater tank labelled Wastewater; the DSHS guide sizes the waste tank 15 percent larger than the potable tank, with a potable inlet of three quarters of an inch or less, a one inch waste drain with a shut off valve and 16 mesh screens on vents. The rule sets no minimum potable gallonage; the 30 gallon minimum in Austin’s old code is gone with the city permits, and the 30 fresh and 40 waste on a standard build of ours clears every one of these rules. Toilet rooms must be conveniently located and accessible but the vehicle does not have to carry one. A commercial driver’s licence applies only where the Transportation Code requires it for the weight of the vehicle.

The new chapter requires mobile vendors to comply with the 2022 FDA Food Code, while the fixed establishment rules in the Texas Food Establishment Rules still adopt the 2017 code, so a truck is held to the newer book. DSHS also publishes separate guidance for pushcarts and for barbecue pits, which matters for the Texas trailer with a smoker on the back.

Food handlers and managers

Every food employee except the certified manager must complete an accredited food handler course within 30 days of being hired; the certificate is valid two years. Since 2015 the statute has made an ANSI or DSHS accredited certificate good in every Texas jurisdiction and forbids cities from issuing or charging for their own cards, and an accredited card from another state is accepted. Prices come from the course providers rather than the state; local classes run around $10 to $15. A truck handling unpackaged temperature controlled food must also have a Certified Food Protection Manager present during all hours of operation, from an accredited exam, with the original certificate posted on the vehicle; Type I vendors and trucks that handle only packaged food are exempt with documentation. Cities may not require their own manager card either.

What the cities still control

With the health permit gone, each city is left with three things: its fire code, its zoning and location rules, and its own permits for public property, downtown and events. They vary a lot.

Houston and Harris County

Houston Health stopped medallion plan review on 15 May 2026 and now inspects for the state: apply to DSHS, take the receipt, book the Houston inspection at the North Stadium Drive office. The city’s own operating rules, the restricted operations units, the 500 foot restroom letter, the notarised property owner letter, the 30 gallon tank, the daily commissary return and the GPS fee, were repealed in August 2025 and do not come back. Harris County Public Health likewise ended its role on 1 July 2026. What remains is fire. Any propane use on a truck in Houston needs an annual LP gas permit from the Houston Fire Marshal at $201.41, with inspections on Wednesdays only at the Park Place Boulevard office; electric, charcoal and wood only trucks need none, and event visitors get a temporary permit. The equipment list is a 3A:40BC extinguisher, a Type I hood with suppression for grease laden vapour, a Class K extinguisher if frying, a propane alarm, ten feet from buildings and 25 feet from other propane trucks, and refuelling generators 20 feet away. Downtown and the Texas Medical Center are special: the largest single propane container allowed is 100 pounds and storage needs the fire department’s written approval; the old talk of a downtown propane ban is not in the current standard. In unincorporated Harris County the Fire Marshal’s mobile food preparation vehicle permit is $240 a year with inspections at the Huffman office.

Dallas and Fort Worth

Dallas got out of food truck permitting twice, first in 2023 when a state law handed Dallas and Tarrant counties the job, and finally in December 2025 when it repealed all its mobile food rules, so the commissary logs and the 600 foot toilet rule people still quote are gone. What Dallas kept, in its vendor chapter as amended in April 2026, is location: no mobile food establishment in the central business district without a CBD concession licence plus the state licence; no general service truck on public property outside the CBD; and private property only with a certificate of occupancy or the owner’s written permission. Dallas Fire Rescue’s mobile food preparation vehicle permit rose to $250 in September 2026, with the city on the 2021 fire code. Dallas County inspects for the state at its Panoramic Circle site and charges $52 for a single temporary event. Fort Worth’s consumer health office refers vendors to DSHS; the city’s fee schedule now has only a $52 temporary event booth fee and a $10 handler class, and its fire department charges $175 for an LP gas operational permit with no truck specific line.

Austin and Travis County

Austin Public Health held jurisdiction through 30 June 2026 and now points vendors to the state. The city’s zoning rules in section 25-2-812 of the land development code are unchanged and still apply: trucks are allowed in commercial and industrial districts but not the neighbourhood and limited office districts, may not operate between 3am and 6am, may not sit within 20 feet of a restaurant or 50 feet of a mixed residential and commercial building, must stay under 70 decibels at a residential line, may not take permanent water or wastewater hookups, and neighbourhoods can petition for wider buffers and shorter hours; a truck on private property for three hours or less between 6am and 10pm is exempt. Austin Fire inspects any truck using propane or producing grease laden vapour, $222 a year, with the 2024 fire code for permits issued since 2022: a 2A:10BC and a Class K, a Class I hood with suppression tagged every six months, a propane detector, an annual LP inspection by a licensed plumber, a one time master electrician form, and 200 pounds of propane maximum, 120 if manifolded. A truck visiting an Austin event from out of town still needs the Austin Fire inspection. Outside the city the Travis County fire marshal allows three cylinders totalling 200 pounds, 20 feet from structures, and charges $266.

San Antonio

Metro Health ended its mobile inspections on 30 June 2026. The city code still carries the location rules that applied before and apply now: 300 feet from a school’s property line around school hours, residential area hours of 7am to 9pm in summer and 8pm the rest of the year, notarised permission from the property owner, and a Downtown Operations permit for the downtown weekday lunch program. San Antonio is also the city with a real food truck park ordinance: a mobile food court is three or more units on a platted, commercially zoned lot with an impermeable surface, permanent flush restrooms with hand sinks, at least 200 feet from a single family use, no more than ten units without council approval and a 20 foot fire route around the edge; units in a compliant court are exempt from the commissary, school and hours rules. The fire department’s mobile vending permit is $300 plus a 3 percent surcharge, rising 15 percent on 1 October 2026, on the 2024 fire code, with a 3A:40BC where a generator is used, a Class K for fryers, 200 pounds of propane outside the unit, a propane alarm and a secondary 24 by 24 inch exit.

El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo and Corpus Christi

El Paso’s traffic code keeps trucks from stopping downtown without a special privilege, within two blocks of a school, within 20 feet of an intersection or on streets over 30 miles an hour, and the fire department started a $125 annual fire licence inspection for mobile food preparation vehicles on 1 July 2026, requiring the fire code’s full mobile vehicle section. Lubbock stopped permitting on 1 July 2026, tells vendors the commissary is no longer required but that a variance is filed with the state, and charges $50 a year for the fire permit, inspected on Tuesdays at the Civic Center. Amarillo repealed its mobile unit health rules on 1 July 2026 and amended its zoning to require the state licence number on the truck’s signage, 300 feet from a permanent food establishment when on the right of way and no parking on a parcel without site improvements, with a $50 fire marshal permit and Wednesday inspections. Corpus Christi keeps a separate vendor permit in its vending chapter with a sworn owner affidavit, a restroom within 300 feet, hours of 6am to 3am, 20 feet from buildings and 500 feet from schools and hospitals on the street, plus a $50 fire permit.

Fire, in one place

The rule that unifies Texas is 200 pounds of propane on the vehicle, cylinders secured outside the passenger area, a combustible gas alarm, an annual leak test by a licensed propane company, a Type I hood with automatic suppression tagged every six months over anything producing grease laden vapour, a Class K extinguisher for frying and a 2A:10BC or larger for everything else. The annual fire permits run $50 in Lubbock, Amarillo and Corpus Christi, $125 in El Paso, $175 for Fort Worth’s propane permit, $201 in Houston, $222 in Austin, $240 in unincorporated Harris County, $250 in Dallas and $300 plus surcharge in San Antonio. The new state law bars a city from demanding a second fire inspection within 12 months of one you passed elsewhere in Texas, though no city has yet published how it will honour another city’s inspection, so carry the paperwork.

Every truck we build leaves with the hood, a suppression system installed by a licensed company, the cylinder cages, the alarm and the extinguishers in place, and the UL 300 guide explains what the inspector checks.

Sales tax

The state rate is 6.25 percent and local jurisdictions add up to 2 percent, so most sales carry 8.25. The sales tax permit is free, with a security bond possible, and takes two to three weeks online; you file every period even at zero sales and keep records four years. A truck with no fixed place of business is an itinerant vendor and collects the local rate where the customer takes possession, which at an event means the event’s location; the Comptroller’s rate locator gives it by address, and promoters are liable for the tax of vendors without permits. Prepared food is taxable even to go, voluntary tips and separately stated mandatory gratuities up to 20 percent are not, and the cooking equipment itself, fryers, griddles and smokers, is exempt from sales tax when you buy it. Alcohol is simple: a roaming truck cannot hold a TABC permit, because TABC licenses only a fixed address.

Business setup

A Texas LLC is $300 to form with the Secretary of State, with a registered agent at a Texas street address, and $25 for an assumed name; a company from another state registers as a foreign LLC for $750. There is no annual report to the Secretary of State; instead every entity files a public information report with the Comptroller by 15 May, and the franchise tax itself does not apply below $2.65 million of revenue for 2026 and 2027. Texas has no personal income tax. Workers’ compensation is optional for private employers, but a non subscriber must post the notice, tell new hires in writing and file the annual form with the Department of Insurance. Unemployment tax starts at $1,500 of wages in a quarter or one employee for 20 weeks. The state’s 2025 repeal of vehicle safety inspections covers non commercial vehicles, and the commercial threshold is 26,000 pounds, so a typical food truck is exempt, though emissions testing still applies in the 17 counties that include Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis and El Paso. Trailers over 4,000 pounds must be titled.

Where a truck earns in Texas

Texas has 31.7 million people and grew nearly nine percent since 2020. The four metros are the market: Dallas Fort Worth at 8.5 million, Houston at 7.9 million, San Antonio at 2.8 million and Austin at 2.6 million, with El Paso at 683,000, Corpus Christi at 317,000, Lubbock at 273,000 and Amarillo at 205,000 behind them. Nobody publishes a count of licensed trucks; the state’s new database will be the first statewide number when it is released.

The events are the largest in the country. The State Fair of Texas runs 25 September to 18 October 2026, 24 days, with two million guests in 2025, concession applications due each 31 March and a minimum upfront investment the fair puts at $5,000. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo takes commercial exhibitor applications from 15 May to 15 August for the following year, charges food space at $13 to $45 a square foot or 23 percent of net sales, whichever is greater, and wants $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate and $1 million products liability. Fiesta San Antonio has no central vendor application; each event’s non profit organiser recruits its own vendors, with a Metro Health temporary permit. Austin’s festivals publish vendor lists rather than applications.

The climate is heat and water. Normal July highs are 95 to 97 across the four metros and Dallas Fort Worth had 55 days over 100 in 2023. Hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November with its peak on 10 September, and Beryl came ashore as a category one in July 2024. The 2021 winter storm took Houston to 13 degrees and froze pipes across the state. A Texas truck needs refrigeration and air conditioning sized for the heat, a generator that is not sharing a box with the hot side, and water lines that can be drained; our generator sizing guide covers the first part.

The timeline and the budget

Apply to DSHS the week the build is finished, because the inspection must happen within 14 days of a complete application and the truck must be working for it. Book the city fire inspection the same week; Houston and Amarillo inspect on Wednesdays, Lubbock on Tuesdays. The free sales tax permit takes two to three weeks, so start it first. Allow a month from delivery to the first service in the big four cities.

A first year budget for a Type III cooking truck in Houston, from the published figures: $876 licence plus $500 inspection, $201 fire permit, a free sales tax permit, $300 for the LLC, $10 to $15 per worker for handler courses, and the manager exam, around $1,900 before insurance and without a commissary if the truck qualifies for the exemption. The same truck in Austin pays $222 for fire, in Dallas $250, in San Antonio about $345 after the October increase.

The mistakes we see most

Budgeting the old fees. $258 is what every city charged for nine months before the state took over; the Type III licence is $1,376 in the first year.

Assuming the state licence replaces the fire permit. It replaces the health permit. Every city still inspects propane and the hood, and most still charge for it.

Signing a commissary lease you do not need. A self contained truck with the sinks, holding and records in the rule is exempt; Lubbock’s advice to file a variance with the state is the practical route.

Parking on public property in Dallas, downtown in El Paso or in Houston’s medical center with a 200 pound tank. The state licence did not change where a truck may stand.

Buying a trailer that has to be plumbed in. A unit that depends on a water connection is a fixed establishment, not a mobile vendor, and needs a different permit. Our truck or trailer guide and used versus new guide cover what to look for.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a food truck licence in Texas in 2026?

Since 1 July 2026 there is one licence, from the Texas Department of State Health Services, in three types. Type I, for no temperature controlled food, is $309 with no inspection fee. Type II, for prepackaged or limited handling, is $618 plus a $400 pre licensing inspection. Type III, for a truck that cooks, is $876 plus a $500 pre licensing inspection, with the same inspection fee at each annual renewal. Cities can no longer charge a health permit fee on top.

Do I still need a city permit for a food truck in Texas?

Not a health permit. Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Lubbock and the rest stopped issuing mobile food permits on 30 June 2026 and the old permits are not valid. What cities still control is fire, zoning and location, so you still need the local fire department’s propane and cooking permit and you still obey local rules on where a truck may park, plus event and park permits.

Does a Texas food truck need a commissary?

Not if the truck can do without one. The 2025 law bars the state from requiring a commissary where the vehicle carries the equipment it needs and disposes of grease and waste properly, and the new rules spell out the exemption: adequate cold and hot holding on board, protected storage, a three compartment sink big enough for your largest utensil, water from an approved source, sewage to an approved servicing facility, and records of both kept on the truck. Otherwise the truck operates from a central preparation facility with a signed authorisation letter.

How long does it take to get licensed?

The statute requires the state, or a local health department inspecting on its behalf, to inspect within 14 days of a complete application. The truck has to be fully functional at the inspection with no external water or power connected, so the sensible sequence is to apply the week the build is finished. Renewals do not need a new pre licensing inspection unless the type or the vehicle changes.

Do I need a food handler card in Texas?

Every food employee except the certified manager must complete an accredited food handler course within 30 days of starting; the certificate is valid two years, is recognised everywhere in Texas by statute, and no city may issue its own card or charge for one. A truck that handles unpackaged temperature controlled food must also have a Certified Food Protection Manager present during all hours of operation, from an ANSI accredited exam.

Can a food truck park anywhere in Texas once it has the state licence?

No. The state licence stops cities from banning a licensed truck outright or from piling on health rules, but it leaves zoning, location and fire codes alone. Dallas keeps trucks out of its central business district without a concession licence and off public property elsewhere; Austin keeps them 20 feet from restaurants and closed from 3am to 6am; El Paso requires a special privilege downtown; San Antonio needs a downtown operations permit. Private property with the owner’s written permission is still the normal home.

What sales tax does a food truck charge in Texas?

The state rate is 6.25 percent and local rates add up to 2 percent, so most trucks collect 8.25 percent. A truck with no fixed place of business collects the local rate of wherever the customer takes the food, which the Comptroller’s rate locator gives by address. The sales tax permit is free; cooking equipment is exempt from sales tax when you buy it; and a roaming truck cannot hold an alcohol permit because TABC licenses only fixed addresses.

Can a truck licensed in another state work an event in Texas?

Not without a Texas licence. There is no reciprocity with other states, and every mobile food vendor in Texas needs the DSHS licence from 1 July 2026. For a single event you still need a Texas sales tax permit, which is free and takes two to three weeks, and the local fire department’s temporary cooking permit, which Houston issues as a separate event licence.

Related guides

New Mexico food truck permits · Kansas food truck permits · Arizona food truck permits · Food truck permit costs by state · Do I need a commissary kitchen

We build trucks for Texas

A truck built self contained, with a three compartment sink and a hand sink with hot water, cold and hot holding sized to the menu, a labelled potable tank and a labelled waste tank 15 percent larger, a Type I hood with licensed suppression, cylinder cages, a propane alarm and the records pocket the rule now asks for, qualifies for the commissary exemption and passes the DSHS pre licensing inspection and every city fire inspection on this page. We build to that standard on every unit and deliver to Texas from Colorado. Custom food trucks start at $55,000 and trailers at $40,000. Call or text 719-722-2537 with your menu and the city you will base in.

Jacob Varghese
Zion Foodtrucks
719-722-2537