Food Truck Operators Are Hoping for Change in City Regulations

Earlier this month, Rachel Billow, who runs the La Cocinita food truck, and Taceaux Loceaux owner Alex Del Castillo had a chance encounter at the city’s safety and permitting department, where they had gone to apply for one of the 100 mobile food vending permits that are distributed annually in Orleans Parish. Up first was Del Castillo. Bad news, he was told: No more permits are available.

But Billow had better luck a few minutes later: She was able to get one.

“She walked out of the office that day with one of the mobile vending permits,” Del Castillo recalled later, a slight that he believes was caused by permitting officials not being on the same page about the city’s regulations. “I was in there the same day asking for the same thing and I didn’t get one.”

As gourmet food trucks have sprung up in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, gaining popularity through word of mouth and social media channels as a way to grab a quick, late-night bite, many operators say they’ve faced hurdles navigating the city’s protocol for getting up to code and getting in on the action.

The licensing process for food trucks covers a range of other mobile vendors, with wares from produce to snowballs. But food truck operators say that as the local industry has changed, the regulations have become outdated and fail to take into account the high demand for mobile food units. Adding to the frustrations, they also say there are sometimes gaps in how the city deals with the regulations, and some food truck operators avoid the red tape altogether, defying the rules and hoping for the best.

“Like most things in our city, you get a lot of mixed messages, but they’ve got their rules in place and you’ve just got to try to sift through them,” said Henry Pulitzer, 29, who often parks his Geaux Plates food truck outside Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar on Tchoupitoulas Street.

Pulitzer is among a group of local food truck owners who hope to persuade city officials in the coming months to ease some of the rules for mobile food operators by increasing the number of permits issued, extending the time a truck can stay in one spot, and expanding hours of operation.

In addition, some food truck operators are pushing to open the Central Business District for business, and they want to shorten the 600-foot limit in place for the space a food truck must be from a restaurant. The operators would like to see that distance cut in half, and to limit the restriction to restaurants serving food that is similar to what’s being sold on the truck, a distinction set in other cities like San Francisco.

And a 30-minute time limit on how long a mobile vendor can stay in the same spot makes it difficult to set up, get ready, and wait for customers to track them down and order food, say operators, who often choose to ignore the rule, which can carry up to a $500 fine.

“The idea of us only being there for 30 minutes is just silly,” said Billow, 30, whose La Cocinita truck serves Latin American food.

Though anyone passing by some late-night bars like Kingpin on Lyons Street or Rendezvous Tavern on Magazine Street would hardly know it, a city ordinance also bans food truck sales from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Ryan Berni, a spokesman for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, said concerns will wane under the “one-stop shop” proposed for city permits, offering a single office that would supply all permits. Landrieu announced the plan in October.

“We’re in the process of streamlining them,” Berni said, noting that many of the complaints that have been expressed to the city concern a lack of available permits, “which is not the case now.”

On Jan. 18, Berni said, there were 22 permits available, a figure that he acknowledged was unusually high. The permits are renewed every year at a cost of about $300 from start to finish.

Complying with the regulations isn’t the only challenge to operating a food truck. It’s also a big financial commitment.

Billow and her partner, Benoit Angulo, who attended culinary school in Venezuela, bought the truck in Florida last September and spent about $10,000 bringing it up to code and another $5,000 painting the outside.

To get a mobile vending permit in Orleans Parish, applicants must pass a fire and health inspection for the truck, which, as Billow found out, often requires that additional money be invested to bring the vehicle into compliance.

But food truck operators say they’re determined to keep going.

For his part, Del Castillo, 44, said he believes many of the ordinances are ambiguous and don’t make a distinction for food trucks, though he has recruited some help and recently obtained the permit he first set out to get.

In the meantime, he has his sights set on gaining some new ground.

“I think we should get access to the CBD,” he said, “because we’re not really competing with the mom and pop restaurants out there, we’re competing with a Lean Cuisine or a bagged lunch.”

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New Orleans Group Bringing Food, Music to Tornado Victims, Volunteers in Joplin, Missouri

Against the backdrop of a national convention on volunteerism, a New Orleans convoy packed with the ingredients for a South Louisiana food and music festival pushed off Monday for shattered Joplin, Mo., where thousands of beleaguered homeowners are awakening to the full import of rebuilding after the worst tornado in modern American history carved a broad scar across the face of their city.

A convoy of local chefs and musicians load up the trucks and busses with seafood, cooking equipment and volunteers to be dispatched to Joplin, Mo., from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Monday, June 6, 2011, to encourage volunteers doing tornado relief there. The event is headed by “The Taste Buds, Three Chefs, One Mission” made up by Chefs Greg Reggio, Hans Limburg and Gary Darling.

“We know what it’s like to be in a situation where you’ve lost everything. And we know the importance of being able to lift spirits,” said Greg Reggio, an owner of Zea’s and Semolina restaurants.

Behind him, a convoy bearing a donated soundstage, a generator, cooking gear and supplies of frozen shrimp, oysters, fish and alligator — with the chefs to prepare it — prepared to leave the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Reggio said they planned to arrive in Joplin at 2 a.m., set up a stage in a local park, and for three hours late Tuesday afternoon provide free food to homeowners and volunteers alike, with music by fiddler Amanda Shaw.

As it happened, nearby at the Convention Center, about 4,500 visitors from around the country, many of them clergy or directors of nonprofit groups, were beginning a three-day National Conference on Volunteering and Service devoted to sharing best practices in the universe of volunteer work.
chefs-reggio-bush.jpgView full sizeChef Greg Reggio chats with Neil Bush, chairman of the Points of Light Institute, as local chefs and musicians load up trucks and buses for a volunteer mission to Joplin, Mo.

Associated with that was a separate session hosted by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which invited clergy and other workers from churches, synagogues and masjids to browse among federal health, housing and education programs that might help them with their local neighborhood work.

Just before the volunteers’ departure, John Gomperts, director of the volunteer service agency AmeriCorps, said the tornado-damaged landscape in Joplin is beyond his powers of description.

One indicator of its scope he took from a weekend visit: The tornado that hit the city of 50,000 two weeks ago left more debris to be carted off than the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

Yet, as Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in seeing off the convoy, the American tradition is “to run toward trouble, rather than away from it.”

Gomperts said AmeriCorps has established a central clearinghouse in Joplin that in two weeks has logged in 14,000 volunteers.
chefs-handtruck.jpgView full sizeThe plan to put on a three-hour music and food fest is designed to encourage volunteers doing tornado relief in Joplin, Mo.

Reggio and some chef-friends said they have already made one relief run to the Tuscaloosa area, which was badly damaged by a cluster of violent tornadoes in late April. He said they knew a trip to Joplin was in their future when Landrieu, who last month established a “Pay it Forward” fund principally to aid victims of Mississippi River flooding, asked them to make the trip now.

The chefs and their friends are not the only New Orleanians who have responded to the tornado disasters.

For example, members of Metairie’s Celebration Church have made one relief trip to the Tuscaloosa area with supplies and gift cards, said its pastor, the Rev. Dennis Watson. They soon will travel to Joplin to advise pastors and others on setting up long-term counseling centers, operating off their own Katrina experiences here, Watson said.

Reggio is one of the so-called Taste Buds, three friends and business partners — the others are Gary Darling and Hans Limburg — who do occasional charity work outside the restaurant business. They and others recently held a weekend fundraiser for restaurateur Michael Bordelon of Liuzza’s, who was seriously injured in an automobile accident.

Reggio said the Joplin trip is a tiny contribution to a huge task, but is intended as an emotional lift as clean-up fatigue sets in.

“Remember how it felt when the Saints came back to the Superdome — how it felt in there?” he asked. “We won’t have that effect — but if just for an hour or so we can help people forget just a little about their struggle up there, we can let ‘em know we care about them.

“We know what they’ve been through. We know they helped us when we needed help. So we’re paying it forward.”

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Remodelers Expect Market Gains During 2011

Remodelers Expect Market Gains During 2011

January 27, 2011 – The latest National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) edged up to 41.5 in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 40.8 in the third quarter. An RMI below 50 indicates that more remodelers say market activity is lower compared to the prior quarter than report it is higher. The RMI has been running below 50 since the final quarter of 2005.

The overall RMI combines ratings of current remodeling activity with indicators of future activity like calls for bids. In the fourth quarter, the RMI component measuring current market conditions stayed flat at 43.3 from 43.4 in the previous quarter. The RMI component measuring future indicators of remodeling business increased, to 39.7 from 38.1 in the previous quarter.

“Remodelers are starting to see an uptick in interest from consumers who are considering future remodeling projects,” said NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bob Peterson, CGR, CAPS, CGP, a remodeler from Ft. Collins, Colo. “Home owners are also showing more willingness to undertake larger remodeling projects.”

All but one index for future market conditions improved during the fourth quarter. Calls for bids jumped to 47.2 (from 42.9), along with backlog of remodeling jobs at 42.6 (from 37.2), and appointments for proposals at 43.1 (from 41.9). The amount of work committed for the next three months shrank to 25.9 (from 30.3).

“Remodeling activity has been rising slowly since the first quarter of 2010. Expected improvements in the job market and the overall economy are beginning to increase homeowners’ confidence and remodelers are seeing indications that business will pick up,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “More remodeling jobs will unfold as consumers in more secure financial positions enter the remodeling market. A more robust recovery in residential remodeling will depend upon future improvements in labor and credit markets.”

Current conditions indices for remodeling improved in two regions: Midwest 54.3 (from 44.9 in the third quarter) and South 45.8 (from 42.3). However, the current indices declined in the Northeast 38.8 (from 41.6) and West 39.7 (from 49.3). Future market indicators grew significantly in nearly all regions: Northeast 49.5 (from 34.0); Midwest 56.1 (from 39.4); and South 47.0 (from 37.9). Only the West region reported some decline at 39.7 (from 41.0). Major additions also expanded to 48.6 (from 45.8), but minor additions dipped slightly to 43.9 (from 46.4), while maintenance and repair stayed flat at 37.0 (from 37.1).

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Catching Up on Slideshows

Slideshows for Weeks 3 and 4 are posted to the site now and ready to view.  Click on the links below.  The Boiler/Grilling Trailer should be ready for testing by Saturday evening.

View Week 3’s, Slideshow By Clicking on This Link.
 
View Week 4’s, Slideshow By Clicking on This Link.

Building on The Framework

View Week 2, Part 1’s Slideshow By Clicking on This Link.

Well, we’re back, and it’s Week 2 on the 20′ Boiler/Grilling Trailer.  This week, R&R Construction Services’ sister company R&R Rigs will be installing the flooring on the trailer, fabricating the boiler area and the griller/smoker area, and possibly adding some shiny new diamond plate to the sides of the trailer.

When installing the floor of the trailer, the process is a lot more complicated than grabbing a screwdriver and a piece of metal and “getting that floor on.”  While constructing the first Disaster Relief Boiling Trailer, R&R Rigs took great care to make sure that there would be no way that all of the propane, heat, and flames from the custom burners underneath the trailer would catch the trailer floor on fire, or worse the trailer tires.  Always looking to improve, R&R Rigs decided that this time, there would be no room for error in this department.  So, instead of leaving the trailer floor and putting concrete board and metal flooring on top of it, R&R Rigs decided to remove the potential fire hazard altogether.  After removing the wooden flooring that came on the trailer, R&R Rigs was left with an empty metal frame with no support and no way to install the metal flooring.  It was decided before the wooden floor was removed that in order to beef up the floor’s structure and to make the metal floor fit tightly against the outside metal frame, R&R Rigs would install 1/4″ thick 1″ steel tubing in a web of steel below the 1/4″, Grade-A condensed aluminum, diamond plate flooring.  The flooring itself is also part of the fire protection system because the thickness of the flooring will also help to withstand the enormous amount of heat that will be emitted from the double-sided boiling pots.  Making exact measurements and ensuring that the space between the steel tubing would be close enough together to support the total weight of the structures on the trailer, R&R Rigs weaved an intricate grid of steel just below the floor’s surface.   The 4′ x 20′ diamond plate flooring was sliced precisely to fit underneath the edges of the metal frame of the trailer so that the trailer frame itself would also act as a support for the weight of the trailer accessories.

While the steel floor frame was being welded onto the trailer, the 20′ aluminum sheets were being cut up into the parts that would form the 4 sides and bottom of the 1/4″ Grade-A, condensed aluminum boiling pots.  These boiling pots can easily boil up to 75 gallons of water depending on how full a cook or caterer fills the pots.  The boiling pots are constructed out of the same quality aluminum as the diamond plate flooring and are doubly supported on all four corners of the bottom of the pots by 6″ duel supports.  The aluminum pieces are solidly welded together and then water-tested by filling the pots completely full of water to ensure that there are not any leaks at all when the Boiler/Grilling Trailer rolls out of the shop.  All 3 boiling pots have been completed and are ready to be installed on the trailer.  These boiling pots will have custom-made jet burners that will superheat the water as quickly as possible and then the double-walled firewall system for the boiling pots will maintain the temperature of the water throughout the entire cooking cycle.  This help the usage of the 2, 100-gallon propane tanks to be more efficient.

The rest of Week 2 will be the fabricating of the grilling/smoker area on the trailer and the measuring, cutting, fabricating, and installing of the protective firewall around the cooking area.  R&R Rigs will also install the front table, which will have the control panel and the deep well sink and will also be a cook’s working area for food preparation.

View Week 2, Part 1’s Slideshow By Clicking on This Link.

Structural Framework for the Trailer is Complete!

Click Here to View the Entire Slideshow of Week 1’s Construction of the Boiler/Grilling Trailer for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

R&R Construction Services’ sister company – R&R Rigs has finished Phase 1, the most important phase of building this custom cooking trailer.  The structural framework of the Boiler/Grilling Trailer is the most important part because it is the “tree” upon which the rest of the parts of the trailer are “hung.”  The structural framework for this 20′ trailer consists of 5 steel roof trusses that are individually fabricated by cutting 20′ pieces of 2″ steel into specifically measure lengths.  Small strut supports are also cut to create a triangular frame – similar to the wooden frame of a roof truss for a new home – for each of the 5 trusses.  Once all of the pieces are measured 3 times and cut once, the 8 pieces are welded together for each of the 5 trusses.  This measuring, cutting, fabricating, and welding process is very precise work.  If even one of the trusses is off by even 1/8″, the entire framework of the trailer could be completely skewed, and the trailer framework could end up being up to 1.5″ off from one end of the trailer to the other.

Why is this important?  Well, if you have ever worked with cutting and welding metal, there is absolutely no room for error in your measurements, cuts, and welds.  Unlike wood that you can bang with a hammer and “meld” it into shape if it is just the slightest bit off, metal is unforgiving in its structure.  Once a piece of metal is welded into place, and you notice that there has been a mistake in the measurement or placement; you have to cut it apart and re-weld it to correct this mistake.  Therefore, there are many man hours put into fabricating just the roof trusses.  Once all roof truss pieces have been welded together to create the triangular structures that are going to hold the “walls” of the trailer, the roof of the trailer and all of the components inside the trailer including the boiler pot firewall, the sidewalls of the grills and smoker, the back drop table, the control panel and sink area, and the propane tank and storage box area; then the outside steel supports are welded into place.

Because every trailer purchased has a different “floorplan layout” that defines where the tires and tire wells are placed, how and where the tongue of the trailer is in relation to the tires and many other factors, placement of the roof trusses also has to be carefully designed so that the support that this structure provides is balanced on all sides of the trailer.  Each roof truss is erected one at a time and firmly welded into place.  The outside steel supports for the roof truss go in-between each roof truss on both sides of the trailer.  These supports are the first part of the framework that is essential to supporting the galvanized metal roofing, as well as the 2, 24′ I-beams that will extend out of both the front and back of the trailer.  This support is critical because the electric hoists that will be installed on trolleys on the 2 I-beams will be lifting and transporting 100’s of pounds of food, so these steel supports are designed to tie the entire roof truss system together.

The next part of the roofing and structural support system to go on are the 2, 24′ I-Beams.  Because of the bulkiness and awkwardness of handling a 24′ steel I-beam, great care is taken in mounting the I-beams approximately 12′ off of the ground and at least 10′ off of the trailer.  Once the I-beams are in place, they are then welded precisely into place.  Many different types of levels are used to ensure that the I-beam is placed in an exact straight line, so that the hoists will move directly down the cooking line to the drop table or straight out of the front of the trailer to lift out the propane tanks for refills or maintenance.  The I-beams will also help with a weight balance for the trailer as it rides down the road.

Now that the roof trusses have been measured, cut, fabricated, erected, supported and the I-beams have been installed, the next part of the structural frame to be fabricated are the steel angle supports that go from truss to truss providing a top support to the roof.  These steel angle pieces are also meticulously measured and cut.  Upon completion R&R Rigs will have 4 sets of steel angle that will be welded evenly down the slope of the roof trusses from the peak of the roof.  Just like when you build a home and you install plywood over the rafters to provide a full support underneath the roof; these pieces of steel angle act as that secondary roof support for not only the roof itself but to tie the entire truss system together, and to make the structure immovable while the trailer is traveling down the road.

Once all of the steel angle has been installed, then the galvanized metal roof itself is screwed to the steel frame.  This roof has to be “wind resistant” and stay in place even during travel, so the roof itself requires many screws to ensure that it will stay in place.  This Boiler/Grilling Trailer is now ready for Phase 2 of construction – most of Week 2 will be spent cutting aluminum and fabricating the boiling pots, the boiling pot firewalls, and the grilling area.  Visit us next week to get an update of this construction progress.  To find out more about ordering a custom cooking trailer from R&R Rigs, Contact Us Directly at 985-246-4591 or Info@RandRCS.com.

Click Here to View the Entire Slideshow of Week 1’s Construction of the Boiler/Grilling Trailer for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Week 1 Continued…After Much Discussion

Click Here to View a Slideshow of Week 1

Well, after many, many measurements, evaluations, and discussions with the original trailer company and new trailer companies, it was decided that the trailer originally purchased by R&R Rigs to create the Boiler/Grilling Trailer for the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill would not have the structural integrity that Rick was looking for in a trailer.  After visiting a trailer company last Friday night, Rick decided to swap out the original trailer for a new trailer that did not have the roll bar around the sides of the entire trailer.  Because of the Boiler/Grilling Trailer’s design, Rick would have had to cut the roll bar in several places, and he was concerned that doing this would weaken the structure and balance of the trailer.

In searching for a 20′ trailer that did not have the roll bar design, Rick was pleasantly surprised to find the product he was looking for, for the same price, but that far exceeded the original trailer in quality and durability.  Not only would the new trailer have a similar design as the first Disaster Relief Boiling Rigs that were built by R&R Construction Service, BUT the new trailer is also 10 times the original trailer because it has a stronger steel structural frame, 6, 10-ply heavy duty trailer tires with sidewalls, and 2 rear outriggers.

The new trailer was delivered to the R&R Rigs’ warehouse on Monday, and Rick and his welder immediately went to work cutting the steel pieces that would be welded to create the steel structural trusses for the roof of the trailer.  This steel frame also will support the 2, 24′ I-beams that will be used to support the electrical hoists.  The electrical hoists will be able to transport the boiling pots’ food baskets up and down the cooking line, delivering food to the drop table at the rear of the trailer.  On the side of the Boiler/Grilling Trailer that has the 2 grills and smoker, the electrical hoist on that side will transport a custom-made meat rack.  The meat rack will contain aluminum sheets that can be pulled out to dump the meat on the drop table.  In addition to the meat rack and cooking baskets, the electrical hoists will also be used to lift the propane tanks off of the front of the trailer so that they can be refilled.  So, the steel frame and I-beam configuration is basically the framework that will support the weight of the trailer operations.

On Tuesday, the structural trusses were put together “on the floor” to make sure that all of the parts of the trusses go together and are perfectly straight and level.  Then, today, Rick started erecting the trusses on the Boiler/Grilling Trailer itself.  The erection of the trusses also is a very exact procedure in that they must be absolutely level with the trailer and with each other.  Tomorrow (Thursday), R&R Rigs will erect the rest of the structural trusses, weld the 2, 24′ I-Beams to the steel frame, and install the galvanized metal roofing panels.  This Boiler/Grilling Rig will be ready to be painted with heat resistant paint by Friday.  Stay tuned to see the completed steel structural frame and roof of our trailer.

Click Here to View a Slideshow of Week 1

On the Job, Week 1

So We Begin!

Starting a large boiler/grilling trailer is always a challenging task because the first 2 weeks of the project consist of an all-out shopping spree for materials for the trailer.  Because it is such a large-scale cooking trailer, the materials for the project are also extremely massive.  The first thing that you buy is your actual trailer.  R&R Rigs starts out with just a heavy-duty, 20′ trailer with up to 6500 pound axles, which is very important because this trailer is going to be sporting a heavy load of metal on top, and that trailer needs to support that weight.  We picked up our trailer on Wednesday after July 4th, and hauled it out to the shop.

The first action taken on the custom cooking trailer is cutting and welding the steel frame that will support the roof and the I-Beams.  Custom steel trusses for the roof are meticulously designed and leveled to ensure that the placement of the roof will be perfectly balanced for the trailer in transit.  R&R Rigs uses only the strongest, most durable steel material for both the framework and the I-Beams.  The I-Beams themselves are capable of holding up to 1 ton of weight. The I-Beams are attached to the custom metal roof trusses, giving the trailer even more durability.  The roof of the trailer is built high enough so that the heat from the boiling pots, the grill, and the smoker will rise enough to keep the cooks relatively cool (depending on the weather at the Gulf of Mexico, of course) and also protect anyone who works boiling or grilling food on the trailer fairly dry from the elements.

After the framework, roof, and I-beams are installed, then the entire trailer is painted with a heat resistant paint.  The heat resistant paint is designed to withstand temperatures of up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  The top of the roof is not painted, but the underside of the roof is painted to help handle the heat and to make it so that the roof will not rust underneath.

Because every trailer has a different configuration of styles – this 20′ trailer has a roll bar that goes around the entire trailer bed – exact measurements must be made and then checked multiple times in order to place the aluminum and aluminum diamond plate order.  The placement of the boiling pots, the grills, & smoker will be worked in around the two entryways at the front and rear of the trailer, so it is very important for balance and load that these units are placed strategically, also considering the tongue weight of the trailer.

Building a custom cooking trailer is all about precise measurements, accurate cuts, and clean welding as all of the metal pieces are fitted together.  R&R Rigs excels at making sure that the finished product is a cohesive piece of machinery that will last for many years.  Keep checking back to view our progress as we finish up Week 1.

How and Where The Trailer Business All Began

The Inception of R&R Rigs

Beaumont, TX, was the site of the emergency relief site that was set up to help out local residents and workers that had been devastated by Hurricane Ike.  Rick Daniels joined the catering company LA Grill in assisting with the set up, take down, and running of the cooking site at their location in the middle of a Bingo hall parking lot.  With no water, electricity, propane, or gas, Rick was the project manager in charge of material acquisition, site maintenance and clean-up, and equipment maintenance.  Rick was also in charge of keeping the site’s busy crew performing tasks throughout the day that would provide clean cooking pots and pans, enough propane for the burners, and enough gas in the generators to cook up to 10,000 meals a day at lunch and dinner.

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This cooking/catering operation utilized a large cooking trailer and many portable pots for cooking hot meals.  The food arrived on refrigerated semi’s that parked around the cooking site and kept the food cold until it was ready to be served.  Food was packaged in bags, and the bags were placed in boiling pots and then boiled until they reached the right temperature to be served.  Then the bagged food was transported via an electric hoist to the end of the cooking line and dumped out on a drop table.  The food was then put into cambros to keep the food hot until it could be served to local residents and disaster relief workers in clam shells (styrofoam containers).

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While running the site, maintenancing the equipment, acquiring propane, gasoline, and other materials for the cooking/catering site, Rick had his eye on the cooking trailer that was used to boil the bagged food.  Because he is always looking to improve systems and structures to make them more efficient and durable, he came back from Beaumont, TX, with an idea for a cooking trailer that would cook more food, cook the food faster, and be made out of trailer material that would be more durable.  He got his chance to “build his theory” when he was contracted by an international company to build his boiling unit.

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The first unit he built had 4 large boiling pots and a smaller boiling pot that could be used to boil rice.  The boiling pots had the capability to cook 100 cases of food an hour, easily cooking food for up to 10,000 people a day.  The boiling pot system was specially designed with a double-walled pot system to bring the water to a boil quickly and then hold that temperature throughout the cooking process, efficiently using the 2, 100-gallon propane tanks so that they did not have to be refilled as often.  Rick installed 2 electric hoists on the trailer so that both cooking lines could cook and deliver food at the same time.  The most important aspect of this trailer is that it can “stand alone” at the emergency relief site with an onboard generator, an onboard water tank with a water pump, sink, and reservoir tank, an onboard gasoline tank, 2, 100-gallon propane tanks, and an electrical system that can either work off of the generator or work off of shore power (once the electricity is restored).  So, this trailer would be able to go into a totally devastated area (like Beaumont, TX, after Hurricane Ike), set up with water, electricity, gas, and propane, and cook food for people until destroyed utilities could be restored.

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Upon completion of Rick Daniels’ invention of a disaster relief boiling trailer, the goal became to design and build custom cooking trailers as well as offer repair and maintenance services for existing cooking trailers.  He accomplished that goal by restoring, maintenancing, and cleaning 3 cooking trailers and 2 smokers after his return from Beaumont, TX.  Rick also completely renovated a 28′ mobile kitchen for the same international company for which he built his first Disaster Relief Boiling Unit.  Rick Daniels with R&R Construction Services’ sister company – R&R Rigs – is now in the process of building another disaster relief cooking trailer for North America’s largest environmental services company.  This company is handling parts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill clean-up and waste disposal and will be using the cooking trailer to feed approximately 2,500 employees.  Stay tuned to this blog to follow the construction of R&R Construction Services’ newest cooking/catering trailer project.

Click Here to View the Slideshow!

Blog to Announce the Creation of Our Blog!

Stay Tuned…We Are Just Starting Our Project!

R&R Rigs would like to take you step-by-step through the process of building a custom cooking trailer by giving you updates every day or every 2 days of our progress on building the trailer that will boil and grill food for North America’s largest environmental services company for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  Check Back Here Often to View Our Progress!