Food Trucks: American Cuisine On The Go.

A catering company owned a fleet of food trucks which were leased to operators who drove from site to site selling food.  One truck was leased by a husband and wife.  That truck was equipped with two seats, two seat belts, and specially designed, built-in equipment including a deep fryer, grill, steam table, oven, refrigerator and coffee maker.  Each day they returned the truck to the lessor, who kept the truck maintained and washed. One day, while the husband was driving, there was a collision and the wife was splashed with oil from the deep fryer and burned. The present action is between the insurers for the lessor, who dispute with one another over coverage. The automobile insurer claims that the injury should be covered under the commercial general liability policy that, although excluding coverage for injuries arising out of the use of automobiles, covers ―mobile equipment, defined as vehicles used for a primary purpose other than transporting persons or cargo. The commercial general liability insurer asserts that the primary purpose of the food truck was to transport persons and cargo so that it is not within the mobile equipment exception to the auto exclusion. The trial court granted summary adjudication in favor of the commercial liability carrier and denied the summary judgment motion brought by the automobile insurer. In reversing the judgment, the appellate court held that the primary purpose of the food truck was not to transport persons or cargo, and therefore the commercial general liability policy coverage for products liability applied in this case.  (American States Insurance Company v. Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 5; January 27, 2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 495, [167 Cal.Rptr.3d 288].)