–Post updated (3:30pm, 1/13/2012)–

UPDATE #3: Mayor Vince Gray just tweeted me directly to say the following: @foodtruckfiesta No new enforcement actions are planned,@DCDPW and @DCPoliceDept assure me. New regs are moving forward according to law.

UPDATE #2: Mike DeBonis, from the Washington Post, just got word from a senior aide to Mayor Vincent C. Gray that the new regulations will be published in the Jan. 20 edition of the D.C. Register.

Over the past week, District officials have been visiting food trucks and telling them that beginning on Jan 13, 2012, they will be ticketing food trucks that don’t have a line formed in front of them.  Specifically, if there is a lapse of more than 15 minutes between customers, the food truck will receive a $1000 fine!  UPDATE #1: I hate to report this, but the news is even worse.. District officials were allowing 15 minutes between customers, but starting tomorrow, they will have no time frame!  The fine is also set at $50, but escalates with every violation (so, I’m guessing that’s where the $1000 figure comes from).  This means that if MPD rolls up and sees a truck with no line, they are immediately fined $50 and told to pack things up and go home.  To add insult to injury, if a truck racks up 17 of these violations in one year, they can have their license revoked.

As you may know, DC food trucks are operating under decades-old ice cream truck regulations.  District Mayor, Vincent Gray (email: eom@dc.gov), has new unpublished regulations sitting on his desk that would bring DC’s laws up to date with the current times.  But, he is refusing to move forward with updating the food truck regulations, probably because he doesn’t want to ruffle the feathers of the restaurant association.  So, even though 1,000′s of us residents and food truck fans love the food trucks and want to allow them to operate freely, our elected officials continue to ignore us.

Dessert trucks are likely to be hit the hardest with this new enforcement tactic since desserts are already prepared and lines move extremely quickly.

Enforcement is expected to be seen tomorrow at DC’s Farragut Friday and other popular spots, like L’Enfant plaza.  So, if you see a lonely food truck without a line, why not walk over to have a chat with the owner so that you can reset that 15 minute time limit allow them to continue serving for the day?

Red Hook Lobster Pound adds another permit to its collection: Fairfax County!  They will be serving in Tysons Corner today (1/11/2012).  The lobster truck joins the elite club of being permitted in DC, Arlington, Montgomery County and Fairfax County.

Tapas Truck tweeted (their first tweet) that they expect to start serving in about 3 weeks! More info about the truck is on their page.

Thanks to David for the tip! Yes – this Arlington, VA food truck is named Hot People Food!  Their slogan? It’s pretty straight-forward: Hot People Eat Hot People Food.  They have a Yelp page that has some photos of the truck.  As you might expect it is an eye-catching design.  David reports that they were just handing out samples today in Rosslyn.  More info..

Barring any unexpected issues, Borinquen Lunch Box (serving delicious Puerto Rican cuisine) will be launching in DC mid-next week! More truck info can be found here.

I’m happy to announce a new food truck that aims to serve the breakfast market!  The Culinary Nomad food truck will serve breakfast items & specialty drinks that are inspired by the Chef’s travels and culinary background. They expect to open in the District in the Spring! More info is on their page.

Mighty Dog And Acai has informed me their launch date: the 2nd week of February!  They will be serving gourmet hot dogs and Acai berry shakes in the District and Montgomery County.  More info can be found on their page.

Tasty Kabob listed a 5th truck in today’s tweet, so I can only assume that means that they launched a fifth truck!  The fifth truck is not yet listed on the schedule on their website, so I’ll probably have to wait a few days to confirm that 5 trucks will always be serving at one time.

This fifth truck puts Tasty Kabob into a class of its own with the most trucks that one company has in operation at one time.  Their closest competitor with respect to number of trucks is Sauca, which used to have 4 trucks in operation at one time.  They have since scaled back to 1 or 2 trucks per day ever since the Sauca restaurant opened.

UPDATE (1/5/2012): This is indeed their 5th truck.

Give the DC food trucks a holiday week off and look at the innovation!  Fojol Bros just tweeted that they have a new truck, named Volathai.  Since Merlindia is missing in action today, the big question is if Merlindia was turned into Volathai or if Volathai is a new truck.  I guess we’ll find out at Franklin Park today when Volathai shows up!

EDIT: The Washingtonian has a first look!

UPDATE (1/5/2012): Today, all three Fojol Bros trucks were out serving, so I can confirm that Volathai is their 3rd truck.

While I was out of town, I asked a photographer friend, Michael, to take a few shots of the Uncurbed DC scene in Georgetown between Dec 13-17.  I think it’s safe to say that the concept of using an empty storefront to host an art display and catered food from a food truck parked out front was a success!  Organizers (@verdeHOUSE) already appear to be planning the next Uncurbed DC pop-up shop as we speak.