Card machines for food trucks and mobile caterers

The short answer

A handheld with its own 4G SIM, a battery that lasts a full service, and a printer if your bookings include corporate jobs or event organisers who want paper. The Dojo Go covers all three. The Dojo Pocket is smaller and lasts longer but has no printer. A truck that trades most days usually comes out ahead on an individually quoted contract terminal; one that trades a handful of weekends usually comes out ahead on a pay-as-you-go reader with no monthly fee. Last season's fees, set against a quote, tell you which side of that line you are on.

Battery, printer and connection

Figures for Dojo hardware are from independent reviews checked August 2026, not from Dojo directly, and real battery life depends on screen brightness, printing and signal strength. Square's figures are from its own UK page.

A ten-hour figure is a full lunch and dinner service with margin, but a festival day that starts at breakfast will need a power bank or a 12V charger in the truck. Hardware detail: Dojo Go, Dojo Pocket, mobile card machines.

Signal and offline payments

The terminal needs a network at the moment of payment. A 4G SIM means you are not dependent on venue Wi-Fi, which is usually either absent or saturated, but it does not help in a valley with no coverage. Reviews are clear that Dojo terminals have no offline mode. Square's Terminal can store payments for up to 24 hours and submit them when it reconnects, at the risk that a stored payment is later declined, and it connects over Wi-Fi or Ethernet only, so it needs a hotspot from your phone.

The practical routine is the same whatever you carry: check signal at the pitch before service, know which network your SIM is on, and keep a cash float for the day the mast is down.

Weather, grease and receipts

Treat every terminal here as splash-sensitive unless its maker says otherwise, because a serving hatch in August rain is a hard place for electronics. Keep the terminal inside the hatch and pass it out for the tap, wipe it down at the end of service, and treat a silicone sleeve as cheap insurance. Dojo's terms require equipment back in good condition within 14 days of ending the agreement, with a fee for anything unreturned, so the sleeve pays for itself.

Receipts are a booking question rather than a queue question. Walk-up customers rarely want paper and a text receipt is fine. Corporate lunches, weddings and event organisers paying on a company card often do, and the Go and Go Max print on the spot. The Pocket sends receipts through the app only.

What a £9 sale costs in card fees

Published pay-as-you-go rates worked through a £9 sale, standard UK consumer cards, checked August 2026. A fixed pence element costs more as the ticket gets smaller, so ask every provider for any per-transaction charge in writing.

Hardware: SumUp Solo £79 ex VAT and SumUp Terminal £135 ex VAT; Square Reader £19 + VAT and Terminal £149 + VAT; Zettle Reader from £29 ex VAT. Full tables and a calculator on the fee comparison page.

Contract or pay-as-you-go for a truck

A Dojo agreement has a minimum term set in the application documents you sign, needs at least one month's written notice to end, and carries an early account closure fee if you leave before the term is up. Dojo states there is no closure fee if you tell it you want to end within the first 30 days, though other fees are still billed. That shape suits a truck trading most weeks of the year. For a truck that only comes out for a few summer festivals, short-term hire (Rapyd from 3 days, DNA Payments from one week) or a reader you own is the better fit; see card machines for events and festivals.

On settlement, Dojo's terms commit to transfer by the end of the business day after the transaction is processed, with business days excluding weekends and bank holidays, and reviews report next-day settlement including weekends on qualifying accounts. For a trader paying Monday pitch fees out of Saturday takings, get the timing for your account in writing.

When a contract terminal is not the right choice

• You trade a few weekends a year. Hire or buy a reader; a minimum term is the wrong shape.
• Card takings are small. No monthly fee beats a lower percentage at low volume.
• Your regular pitch has no signal. Only an offline-capable terminal with a hotspot, or cash, will work.
• You already own a reader that works. Switch when the fees on your statement justify it, not before. See best card machines for market stalls.

Common questions