MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A new permit for food trucks in the City of Memphis could be too costly for some owners to stay in the industry.

In some parts of town, you can hardly drive a block without seeing a food truck.

That’s for good reason.

They are much cheaper and have a whole lot less red tape than traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants.

New requirements from the city are about to make the business much pricier to get into. Though the new permit costs only $50, meeting the requirements to get the permit could cost thousands.

Though many Memphians enjoy the endless options food trucks provide, the number of trucks could drop off next month.

“The real issue, I think, is the fire suppression system that the trucks have to get,” Christina Westbrook, who has owned the Smurfey’s Smokehouse food truck for over a decade, said. “Those things are expensive.”

To meet the requirements for the new permit from the city’s Fire Prevention Bureau, food trucks will be required to have an automatic fire extinguisher system. Those systems can start at anywhere from $2,000-$5,000 and get even pricier with bigger trucks.

Westbrook said the system has never been required before and could price some people out of the business.

“Not only is it the $50 for the inspection, it’s the things you have to do to pass the inspection,” she said.

“Smurfey’s Smokehouse” is so successful that she is moving her barbecue operation into a traditional, brick-and-mortar building.

But could a relative newcomer afford that kind of system?

FOX13 visited the Flavors food truck, which has only been open for three years, to find out just how common that system is.

“The new fire system that they have that they want us to get, I do not have that right now,” Tony Preston, who owns Flavors, said. “I’m going to have to get that.”

Preston said he will have to pay to get one installed by the time the new permit and inspections kick in, but he is willing to put up the cash to stay in business.

“It’s more money that we have to spend and come out of our pockets, but it might be a good thing because they are trying to stop fires,” he said.

Some question why the permit is being required now of all times.

Westbrook said in all the years she has spent in and around food trucks, she has never seen one catch fire. She worries that some will just skirt the law to avoid paying for the new equipment.

“I think if it is for the safety of the food trucks, it is fine,” she said. “I think if it is for monetary gain, it is not right.”

The permit will be required starting Nov. 1.

Food trucks will have to pass an inspection and pay a $50 fee annually to get it.