The new ILM Food & Brew truck tracker is starting to make its way across the area, and creators Justin and Becky Klein hope it will eventually roll across the region. 
 
The tracker, populated with info and locations from food truck owners, is now live at ilmfoodnbrew.com or facebook.com/ilmfoodnbrew. 
 
“It really just started as me and my buddies would sit around and talk about different ideas,” Justin Klein said. 
 
His wife, Becky – a self-proclaimed lover of food trucks – laughingly admits that she would plan their weekends by searching what local food trucks would be where in the area. 
 
“My degrees are in geospatial mapping, so I begin to examine the possibilities of mapping something like this, and I put it together,” Justin Klein said. 
 
After “mapping” it out, he stopped on it and only recently came back to the concept for this type of tracking device for Wilmington. He said that the process itself was easy with no real “hard part” for food trucks wanting to put their locations out there. 
 
“I built a web form that’s very user friendly,” he said. “If you own a food truck, you can upload your information of where your truck will be and when in a very easy way.” 
 
The Kleins even created a how-to video posted on their Facebook page to make it easier for first-time uploaders. Justin Klein said that he does limit the tracker to only 48 hours ahead so the map will not get overcrowded. He added that eventually, he hopes to add local breweries as well as events and festivities to the tracker and down the road expand to Leland and Southport.  
 
“For now, we are focused on food truck tracking,” he said. 
 
The Kleins see this creation as beneficial in two ways. First, it allows food truck owners to showcase their locations in a quick and easy way. The second way is that it allows diners to know where their favorite food is being served in town.  
 
Still, the GIS professional in Justin Klein is thrilled with being able to use his education to create something like this. 
 
“We both have full-time jobs, a baby and so we are pretty busy, but to be able to do this based on what I have learned in school, it’s data visualized and organized, for me it’s a great feeling to utilize that skillset,” he said. “I am thrilled with starting this. I hope it can better serve the community.” 

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