Food Trucks: A Healthy Wrappetite

Food trucks: They’re not your everyday vehicle wrap. “Not one is ever the same,” says Chris Lorich, president of Streamline Designs in Buffalo, New York. The shop has installed more than 80 food truck wraps in just over four years, so it’s safe to say, Lorich’s an expert. Streamline got into the business unexpectedly when, after they’d been open just a few months, a food truck builder in nearby Rochester reached out.

“We didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into,” Lorich laughs. But that first job was a hit, and soon Streamline’s crew of five brothers was the go-to food truck squad in town. They built solid relationships with the builder in Rochester and another in Buffalo; both offer a wrap as part of their full refurbishing package.

It’s a time-consuming, but worthwhile, process. Lorich says out of all the trucks they’ve wrapped, only three have been new vehicles. But time is always of the essence: “These people are trying to launch their business, and every day we have the vehicle is a day that they’re not out making money.”

It takes a full business day just to prep the vehicle, sanding down corroded areas and painting seams, vents, bumpers, and wheels. Then comes the wrap itself: Streamline prints on a Roland Soljet Pro 4 XR-640. All of the trucks pictured were wrapped with 3M Controltac IJ180Cv3 and laminated with 3M Scotchcal Gloss Overlaminate 8518. When they’re done, Lorich says “they look like they’re brand-new vehicles when underneath, they’re beat-up 40-year-old delivery trucks.”

Tom Wahl's

Souped Up

Midnight Smokin' BBQ

Healthy Scratch

Lomo Lomo