Challenges and Price Increases

Like many irrigation contractors, American National Sprinkler & Lighting limits prices on any proposal to 30 days, “because the prices keep going up,” says Feldman.

“Before 2020 we usually honored our quotes for three months or so,” says Martin. Now, however, with the price increases and material shortages, Mueller Mist limits that to 30 days. Still, once a customer agrees to an estimate, he orders the materials to lock in the price. His suppliers then put it aside for him.

Mayfield goes even further, writing estimates that are good for only five days. “I’ve even started putting in escalation clauses,” he says.

While it may take a few weeks to get supplies that once were available within days, some materials take much longer. For instance, Mayfield went to six or seven manufacturers in search of pumps used to push pressure. “I still don’t have the one I ordered in May,” he says. “My customer is not happy.”

Specialty items used to be available in seven to 10 days, says Martin. Now, however, he can expect to wait eight to 10 weeks for such items as colored tags for sprinkler heads to indicate they are for reclaimed water. Recently, an order took 20 weeks.

Many suppliers and contractors are ordering substantial amounts of materials to stockpile, to not only beat price increases, but also to ensure that they have plenty of what have become scarce resources. “My barn never has been more full than it is now,” says Mayfield.

“We have a pretty sizeable warehouse,” says Feldman. American National Sprinkler & Lighting uses the space to order materials they use frequently.

For the first time in his memory, Gold notes that the company is ordering parts to hold through the winter, instead of right before the season starts. With a

10,000 square foot warehouse, there is plenty of room to do this.

Prior to this stockpiling wasn’t necessary. “A lot of our customer base hasn’t had to plan, because we, as distributors, have done a good job of providing product,” says Koss. Now, however, he’d like to counsel his customers to “communicate with your suppliers. Place orders as early as you can so we can help you have the product.”

In this tight labor market, employers have found themselves paying higher salaries, contributing to the price increases from the manufacturing, transportation, distribution and contractors’ sides. “Since May 2021, we’ve also seen labor increases,” says Feldman.

Koss ticks off a list: “freight constraints, lack of drivers, labor issues, lack of containers to get from point A to point B,” he says. It affects everything from raw materials that need to be transported from their point of origin to manufacturing facilities to ships, trucks and trains needed to move the finished product to distributors, then on to the contractors.

“Until now, I hadn’t thought about the availability of or price of a (shipping) container,” says Koss. Now, however, he knows that one could have been had fairly easily two years ago for about $2,000 to $3,000. “Now, if you can get one, it can cost $20,000 to $30,000.” Difficulty in obtaining shipping containers contributes to the difficulty in obtaining parts and materials.

Customers are hit all ways. Manufacturers pass the higher labor and transportation costs down to the distributors, who pass them along to the contractors, who pass them to their customers.

The scream you just heard was the result of sticker shock.