Do you need to get rid of some waste from your property? Are you planning to hire a Pink Bin? If so, please give us plenty of notice. In this post, I explain why.
In the wake of Labour’s win in last year’s election, confidence within the construction sector seemed to wane, and for several months there was a lull in activity. The industry, it seems, was waiting for the post-election dust to settle. At Pink Bins, a large portion of our work is for commercial customers, including many in construction, so the slowdown impacted our business.
Recently, though, things have improved — big time! And, compared to this time last year, business is up a lot. This growth is fantastic — we’ve needed to get another gantry truck. However, it does create challenges.
Delivery times
At Pink Bins, we provide gantry bins from 3 to 35 m³ in size. To us, meeting specified delivery times is very important. And, during the slow season, doing so is easy. However, the current demand for bins — plus ongoing traffic congestion issues — is making meeting delivering times more difficult.
So, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, we need more notice. How much more? Well, if you need delivery at a non-specific time, we require two days’ notice; to deliver at a specific time, we need four days.
What does the future hold?
Having a crystal ball to look into the future would be fantastic, wouldn’t it? However, until someone like Elon Musk creates some new future-seeing technology, we can only speculate on what the future holds based on experience and facts.
So, what will business be like over the coming years? Well, it’s no secret that there is a huge housing shortage in Auckland — about 45,000 units, according to the Stocktake of New Zealand’s Housing report. So, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all is well for anyone associated with the building industry.
It’s not that simple, though, because you’ll probably be aware that New Zealand is also suffering from a severe skill shortage — the country needs around 50,000 to 60,000 more workers.
Business is good now, and probably will be for a while. However, unless the construction industry gains more skilled workers — the Government’s Kiwi Build Skill Shortage List looks promising — my ‘crystal ball’ predicts that the industry will reach the point, if it hasn’t already, where it can’t move forward and grow.