News for Tool Hire, Equipment Hire & Plant Hire and Rental Professionals

Catch 22

11 May 2021

Catch 22

Wouldn’t it be good to have your entire equipment fleet out on hire? The strength of the bounce back shows that the answer is actually no.

The sharp rise in demand has led to a challenging situation. 

One hirer told me recently that when he looked out at his yard he thought he’d been robbed, there was so little kit there. Others report similar sentiments. 

But the machines were out on hire and attracting a decent rate. Happy days, surely? 

“Someone asked me the other day how we were doing,” he said. “I replied that I once thought it was stressful having a yard full of kit. But you don’t know what stress is until it’s empty. 

“You’re fighting fires all the time. People keep ringing for more equipment that you just don’t have. There are only a certain number of customers who you can ring and ask politely when a machine might be coming back off hire so you might offer it to someone else. Yet you need to get the kit or lose new business. 

“We’re buying more products like mini excavators and dumpers when we can get them, but looking ahead you have to be so careful with your cash flow. It’s a Catch 22 situation.” 

So while the bounce back is stronger than anyone could have predicted, companies across many industry sectors will require excellent management skills on the road to recovery. 

● Read the recent story about how the strength of demand in the construction industry is leading to raw material shortages.   

Picture: Arek Socha/Pixabay

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