A food truck guest walks up to the window, sees a $14 menu item, taps their card, and then finds out the real price was higher because of a service charge, card surcharge, delivery fee, or even automatic gratuity.
That may have been common practice in some places, but in Florida on 7/1/2026 it becomes a compliance issue.
Florida SB 606, passed in 2025 as Chapter 2025-113, deals with public lodging and public food service establishments. For food truck owners, the part that matters most is the new language around operations charges, disclosure, and receipts. The food-service operations-charge section takes effect July 1, 2026.
This is not a new food truck permit law. It does not change commissary rules, DBPR inspections, food safety requirements, or where a food truck can legally vend.
It is about one thing: if you add mandatory charges beyond the menu price and tax, the customer needs to know before they pay.
Does SB 606 Apply to Food Trucks?
In Florida law, a “public food service establishment” includes a building, vehicle, place, or structure where food is prepared, served, or sold for immediate consumption, takeout, or delivery. That means food trucks are generally included when they operate as public food service establishments.
So, if a Florida food truck adds a required charge on top of food and beverage pricing, this law matters.
What Is an “Operations Charge”?
The law defines an operations charge as an automatic fee or charge, other than government-imposed tax, that a customer is required to pay in addition to the cost of food and beverages. The statute gives examples including service charges, automatic gratuities, credit card surcharges, and delivery fees.
For a food truck, that could include things like:
- A credit card surcharge.
- A service fee.
- A mandatory gratuity.
- A delivery fee.
- A catering service charge.
- An event service fee charged directly to the customer.
- A “venue fee,” “operations fee,” or similar add-on.
The name you give the fee does not matter as much as whether the guest is required to pay it.
What Food Trucks Must Disclose
If you charge an operations charge, the notice must include the amount or percentage of the charge and the purpose of the charge. The law says that notice needs to appear on the menu, any written contract, your website, or any mobile application where your food and beverage orders are placed. The notice also must be in a font equal to or greater than the font used for menu item descriptions or the general provisions of the written contract. Essentially NO fine print, faded disjointed signs, or notices hidden behind the condiments.
This is not a “tiny sentence at the bottom of the page” law. If your guest has to hunt for the fee, you missed the point of the law and admit the fee is something you are ashamed to charge. So why are you charging it anyway?
For a food truck without table service or formal menus, the law says the notice must appear in an obvious and clearly readable manner on the menu board or on a clearly readable sign by the register where the customer pays.
In plain language: put the fee where the guest can see it before they order.
Receipts Must Be Clear
SB 606 also changes what the customer should see on the receipt. Each copy of a receipt given to the customer must contain separate lines for gratuity, operations charge, and sales tax. If an operations charge includes an automatic gratuity, that automatic gratuity must be separately stated on the receipt.
This is where food truck owners may run into a POS problem.
If your POS system cannot clearly separate these charges, you may need to adjust your settings, rename charge lines, or reconsider whether the fee is worth the confusion. SPOILER ALERT: It is not.
The Bigger Business Lesson
Here is where food truck owners need to be careful. Just because a fee can be disclosed does not mean it is good business.
A guest does not care that your food cost went up, your card processor charges fees, the event charged you too much, or your labor cost is higher than it used to be. The guest looks at the menu board and decides whether the value makes sense.
If your menu says $12 but the guest is charged $14 after fees and taxes, you win the transaction and lose trust. That is not a good trade.
Food trucks already have enough working against them: weather, generator fuel, commissary costs, permits, event fees, labor, prep time, and limited capacity. Adding surprise fees to the guest experience creates one more point of friction.
My Practical Recommendation Has Always Been:
Make the menu price the real price.
If the sandwich needs to be $14 to protect your food cost, labor, packaging, and profit, then price it at $14 plus tax. Do not make it look like $12 and then stack on fees at checkout.
For food trucks, simple pricing builds trust. It also speeds up service. Guests should not need a calculator at the order window.
If you are using a credit card surcharge, service charge, delivery fee, or catering fee, review four places immediately:
- Your menu board.
- Your printed or digital menu.
- Your online ordering page.
- Your POS receipt.
For catering, also review your quote, invoice, and contract. If you charge a 15% service fee, 20% automatic gratuity, travel fee, delivery fee, or setup fee, it should be clear before the customer signs or pays. Oh… and it is all sales taxable too.
Compliance Checklist for Florida Food Trucks
Florida food truck owners should check the following:
- Does the truck charge any required fee other than sales tax?
- Is the fee shown clearly before the guest pays?
- Does the notice include the amount or percentage?
- Does the notice explain the purpose of the fee?
- Is the notice on the menu board, sign, website, app, or contract?
- Is the notice large enough to be easily seen?
- Does the POS receipt separate gratuity, operations charge, and sales tax?
- Do catering contracts match the POS and invoice language?
- Has the staff been trained to explain the fee honestly?
If the answer is “no” to any of these, fix the system before it becomes a guest complaint or a regulatory issue that could cost real money.
Final Thought
Florida SB 606 is really a transparency law. For food truck owners who already price honestly and communicate clearly, this should not be a major burden.
But for operators using surprise fees to make menu prices look lower than they really are, this law creates a problem for you.
The better move is simple: price your food correctly, show the guest the real cost, and build a business that does not need hidden charges to survive.
Food truck owners do not need more gimmicks. They need better math, better systems, and better communication.
