First it was a cranky generator. Now it’s the weather. If not the  former, then the latter, may keep the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck off the streets until tomorrow.

But Lobster Pound DC president Leland Morris still holds out hopes that he can launch the long-awaited rolling crustacean wagon today. He’ll just watch the skies (and forecasts) and hope for the best.

“When I woke up this morning and saw the rain, I thought, ‘You got to be kidding me!’,” Morris told me over the phone today. After all, Team Lobster Truck had just spent the last few days working to solve the vehicle’s ongoing generator problems.

The truck’s original diesel generator had a damaged piston, Morris said, which required a major repair — and a major wait. Morris decided to rent two Honda generators in the meantime to try to get the truck operational, but one of the units started leaking gasoline. So Morris tried to operate the vehicle with a single generator, but “it wouldn’t deliver the power we needed,” he said.

The operators secured yet another generator, this a 6,000-watt unit that can power the important equipment — the refrigerators, the lighting, the flattop and steam table — but not the air conditioning. It was a compromise that Morris was willing to make to get the truck on the road.

But now the weather.

If the skies don’t open up this afternoon, Morris hopes to have the truck on the streets by 6 p.m., maybe along U Street or in Adams Morgan. You can keep track of the vehicle’s whereabouts on its Twitter page.

Red Hook certainly has motivation to hit the streets soon. Its main (or Maine) product is perishable. Morris said they’ve kept the shelled and cooked lobster meat on ice, so it’s still in good condition; they’ve also not prepared it into lobster salad yet. Once the salads are made, they have a shelf life of about 48 hours, Morris said.

Regardless of when the truck launches, today or tomorrow, Red Hook will offer its long-suffering customers a special deal. Morris said that, through Friday, you’ll get a free bag of Cape Cod chips and Maine Root soda with every lobster roll purchase. The rolls are $15 each.

You can see the truck’s menu here.