Sally Mengel, with Loblolly Creamery, and Lauren McCants, with Southern Salt Food Company, participate in a panel discussion Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, about operating food trucks. The event was hosted at Natchez restaurant in downtown Little Rock. ( Ashley Nerbovig

Remembering to “tie everything down” sounds more like the No. 1 rule to sailing than to running a restaurant.

For Lauren McCants, Matt Clark, Justin Patterson and Sally Mengel, however, it's the best advice they can give to people interested in one day running their own food truck.

The four food-truck entrepreneurs crammed together Tuesday at the front of Natchez restaurant in Little Rock for the arfoodjobs.com panel discussion, "Close Quarters: What I’ve Learned From Operating a Food Truck."

Patterson, who runs The Southern Gourmasian, recalled an old charcoal grill in his truck that had only been used once before the cooks decided it created too much smoke. His team turned the space into a prep area, covering it with a pan. However, as people worked, their hips and legs would hit the knobs on the side of the stove, releasing gas. Once at an Etsy festival, he said, the gas lit and everyone took cover as they heard the small explosion.

“You have the space that you have,” Patterson said. “You have ‘X’ amount you can serve and ‘X’ amount you can prep, and once that’s gone, it’s gone.”

Patterson will soon be retiring his mobile restaurant in favor of a stationary one at 219 W. Capitol Ave. He said storage and space are two things he's most looking forward to about the new place.

Clark, who runs the Waffle Wagon, said tiny explosions are the rule to live by in a sense.

“Something bad happens every day,” Clark said. “You’re doing one thing, and all of a sudden you’ve got to deal with eight new problems.”

Clark said one of the biggest issues he faces as a food truck owner is traveling around to pick up food, because suppliers won’t deliver to a food truck. With few employees, Clark said, this task can affect an entire day for a food truck business.

Mengel, who works in the Loblolly Creamery truck, agreed, recalling stories of trucks running out of gas or generators getting stuck.

“My truck has solar panels now though,” Mengel said. “We never run out of gas, which is great.”

Mengel said, the biggest mistake she made initially was spending too much on advertising. She said using free websites like Urbanspoon and Yelp are the places most people check when going into a new town, and they usually are better than placing an ad.

“I mean use social media … hand out flyers from your truck,” Mengel said. The group agreed that Facebook is one of the best ways for patrons to keep up with the roaming restaurants.

McCants, who operates the Southern Salt Food Company food truck, said it's also important for new truck owners to know the rules of parking, noting that trucks often have to be invited to to places where they serve.

“You can’t just pull up to the River Market and open your window,” McCants said.

The panelists' food trucks will be among 26 mobile restaurants featured Oct. 4 at the annual Main Street Food Truck Festival in downtown Little Rock. More information about the event can be found at the festival's Facebook page.