Supply chain issues have plagued many businesses around the world since the beginning of the pandemic, but few have been impacted quite like the construction business. Whether it’s a lack of building materials to a shortage of actual workers, construction companies have been wading through one challenge after another for years.  Maurice Rahming, from MarketPlace, says, ” Post pandemic things have not gotten better. We were optimistic as we looked at coming further from the pandemic that the material would become more and more accessible, but the opposite kind of happened. We’re still looking at extremely long lead times — as far as, in some cases, up to a year — when we talk about different types of equipment and steel that’s needed on projects.”  Given the boom in private sector, heavy construction combined with local road works and bridges projects combined with TxDOT’s ever increasing, multi-billion budget, it is no wonder that heavy equipment is hard to find and very expensive to rent or purchase when you do find it.  Add all that to the COVID, supply delays and inflation fears, some equipment is just no available.  So what does the estimator or project manager do?

Well, we asked DLB Industries, a HUB certified, minority, women owned business that question and here is what we got. “It is no secret, over the last 10 years that costs have sky rocketed in the Texas market for materials, supplies, equipment and labor….all the things we use every day.  Estimators must often overbid and price projects at 20%+ premiums just to stay even.  When it comes to finding basic equipment such as scissor lifts, boom lifts, water trucks and even scaffolding, it just can’t be found.  We all have to just put on our big boy pants and pay more then figure out how to pass the costs on or cut budgets elsewhere, its just that simple.”  Many WBE, DBE and MBE firms find themselves priced out of inventory for many of these things.    At the same time, large contractors,  Tier 1 and Tier 2 sub  contractors find themselves under more pressure to use WBE, DBE and MBE firms more and more.  Not sure where this ends but it will force the inefficient and non-competitive firms out of business thereby putting more of a workload and strain on those still here.

New sources for water trucks, water towers and other equipment will eventually arrive to fill this void but in the mean time it will be a scramble for equipment and equipment operators.