Commissary and Depot Requirements for Mobile Vendors

Most food trucks, trailers and market stalls in Australia cannot legally operate from the vehicle alone. Mobile vendors usually need a fixed base — a commissary or depot — for prep, cold and dry storage, equipment cleaning and potable water servicing. Standard 3.2.3 requires a temporary or mobile food premises to have adequate access to these facilities, and your local council registration often names the depot you will use. Key takeaways: A commissary or depot is a fixed, approved base where mobile vendors prepare, store, clean and re-stock — the vehicle is for service and finishing, not full production.. Standard 3.2.3 requires temporary and mobile food premises to have adequate access to hand-washing, equipment-cleaning, storage and potable water facilities, which the depot supplies.. Councils commonly ask you to name your commissary or servicing depot on your registration or mobile food permit, and it may need to be registered itself.. The depot handles what a truck cannot do safely on board: bulk cold and dry storage, deep cleaning, potable water filling, and grey and food-waste disposal.. Keeping the truck and the depot at safe temperatures across transport is where the 5-60°C danger zone and the 2-hour/4-hour rule are most often broken.. Why a mobile vendor needs a fixed base at all A food truck or trailer has limited bench space, limited refrigeration, a small water tank and no room for bulk storage or heavy cleaning. It is designed for finishing and serving food to a queue, not for breaking down deliveries, thawing and portioning bulk product, or scrubbing down a full day's equipment. Trying to do all of that on board is where temperature control and hygiene start to fail. That is why most councils and the Food Standards Code treat the mobile unit and its fixed base as a single operation. Standard 3.2.3 (Food Premises and Equipment) requires food premises — including temporary and mobile ones — to have adequate access to facilities for hand-washing, cleaning and sanitising equipment, storing food at safe temperatures, and obtaining potable water. A small vehicle rarely meets all of those requirements on its own, so the shortfall is met by a commissary or depot. In practice this means the depot is not optional paperwork. It is the part of your set-up that makes the whole operation compliant, and inspectors will expect the truck and the base to work together as one food business. Commissary vs depot: what the terms mean The words are used loosely, but they describe slightly different things. A commissary is a fully equipped, registered commercial kitchen where you actually prepare and cook — chopping, marinating, cooking components, cooling and portioning — before loading the truck. Many vendors rent time or a bench in a shared commercial kitchen for this. A depot (sometimes called a servicing depot or base of operations) is the fixed premises where the vehicle is serviced between shifts: filling potable water, emptying and cleaning waste-water and food-waste, restocking, and storing the truck's equipment and stock. Some businesses use one site for both roles; others split them, prepping at a commissary and servicing at a separate depot or their registered premises. What matters to a regulator is not the label but that every function is covered by an approved facility. When you register, be clear about which site does what, because a home kitchen is generally not acceptable for commercial prep or servicing unless it has been specifically approved for that purpose. What the facility must actually provide A compliant commissary or depot needs to cover the tasks the truck cannot do safely. At a minimum that means potable (drinking-quality) water for filling the vehicle's tank, a dedicated hand-washing basin with warm running water and soap, and a separate cleaning sink or wash-up area for equipment and utensils. It also needs adequate refrigeration and freezing for bulk cold storage, and dry, pest-proof storage off the floor for ambient stock and packaging. Waste is the other half. The base must allow safe disposal of grey water (from sinks and cleaning) to sewer or an approved trade-waste point — never to a stormwater drain or the ground — plus food-waste and general rubbish disposal, and often a grease-management arrangement. Surfaces and fittings must be smooth, cleanable and in good repair, consistent with the equipment requirements in Standard 3.2.3. Because the truck relies on the depot for cold storage, the cold chain has to hold across the whole cycle: keep cold food at 5°C or below and hot food at 60°C or above, and use the 2-hour/4-hour rule to manage the windows when food is unavoidably in the 5-60°C danger zone during loading and transport. Potable water and waste-water servicing Water is the requirement mobile vendors most often underestimate. The vehicle carries a finite tank, and it must be filled from a potable supply — a tap connected to a drinking-water source at the depot, using a clean, food-grade hose kept off the ground and capped between uses. Topping up from an unknown outdoor tap or a garden hose is a common non-compliance because you cannot vouch for the water quality. Equally important is what comes out. Grey water from your hand basin and wash-up sink is contaminated and must be captured in the vehicle's waste tank and discharged only at an approved point at the depot that drains to sewer. Emptying it into a gutter, stormwater drain or car park is both an environmental breach and a food-safety risk. Size the tanks and plan the servicing so you never run short of clean water mid-shift, because hand-washing and equipment cleaning depend on it. Many councils specify minimum water and waste-water capacity for a mobile unit as part of approval, so check the local requirement before you fit out. How the depot appears in your registration When you register a mobile food business, the council generally wants to know where the vehicle is based and serviced. Many application forms and mobile food permits ask you to name the commissary or servicing depot, provide its address, and sometimes evidence that it is itself a registered or approved food premises. The depot may need its own registration if commercial prep happens there. Some councils operate a 'home' council model, where you register the mobile business (and its base) with the council where the depot sits, and then notify or seek permits from other councils where you intend to trade. Because these arrangements vary by state, territory and council, confirm the exact process with the council where your depot is located rather than assuming another area's rules apply. Keep the paperwork current. If you change depots, update your registration — trading from a base the council has not approved, or one that has lapsed, is a straightforward compliance failure that can be picked up at any inspection of either the truck or the base. Common non-compliances to avoid The recurring problems inspectors see with mobile vendors nearly all trace back to a weak or missing base. Doing full prep at home instead of an approved commissary, filling from a non-potable tap, or dumping grey water improperly are the classic three, and each can stop you trading. Temperature control is the next tier. Loading a warm truck, over-packing a small fridge so it cannot hold 5°C, or leaving cooked components to cool on the bench instead of using proper two-stage cooling (60°C down to 21°C within two hours, then 21°C to 5°C within a further four hours) all put food into the danger zone. A small vehicle fridge recovers slowly, so pre-chill everything at the depot and load cold. Documentation gaps round it out — no named depot on the registration, no record of who supplies the water, or a base that was never registered for the use it is being put to. Fixing these is cheaper than a failed inspection, and it makes daily operation calmer because every task has a proper place to happen. Checklist: A registered or approved commissary is used for bulk prep, cooking and cooling — not a home kitchen. A servicing depot provides potable water filling from a drinking-quality supply. A dedicated hand-washing basin with warm water and soap is available at the base. A separate wash-up sink or area is used for cleaning and sanitising equipment. Adequate refrigeration, freezing and pest-proof dry storage are provided at the base. Grey water is discharged only at an approved point that drains to sewer, never to stormwater. Food-waste, general rubbish and grease are disposed of through approved arrangements. The commissary or depot address is recorded on your council registration or mobile permit. Stock is pre-chilled at the depot and loaded cold to hold 5°C or below in transit. Water and waste tanks are sized so you never run short of clean water mid-shift. Common mistakes: Preparing food at home instead of an approved commissary or registered premises. Filling the water tank from a non-potable tap or a garden hose of unknown quality. Discharging grey water into a gutter, stormwater drain or car park rather than an approved sewer point. Over-packing a small vehicle fridge so it cannot hold food at 5°C or below. Cooling cooked components on the bench instead of using proper two-stage cooling. Leaving the depot off the council registration, or using a base that was never approved for the use. Loading a warm truck at the start of a shift instead of pre-chilling stock at the base.