No KFC today

**ians** · 10-Dec-21, 10:41 AM

Its a sign of the times ... its friday ... we sold our drums of scrap metal today ... in the past the next stop would be for KFC ... the biggest bucket and some cooldrinks ... then back to the workshop and we would all sit down and share it out with everyone.

Today I decided to share the money and top up the vehicle with my share in fuel ... there wasnt even enough to top up the vehicle ... it didnt even take the needle past half way ... the full amount would not have even filled the vehicle with diesel

Those days of heading out on a road trip for the day ... gone.

Those days of going out to offer free quotes for jobs ... gone.

Those days of shooting to the wholesaler just to collect a few bits and bobs .. .gone.

Those days of including the travelling in the labour price ... gone.

Looking forward to 2022 ... an online delivery 60 min service for those small items delivered to site might become a reality.

Looking at the price increases of everything from food to fuel to electricity to water to rates to material for site ... but labour cost and travelling seem to be standing still ... the reality is that your rates wages or salary should have increased by 20 - 30 % since the start of covid ... how many people can say they have increased rates or wages by 20 % ?

**ians** · 10-Dec-21, 10:58 AM

A tip ... be careful of the scrap dealers ... While chatting to the guys in the que this morning ... it seems there is a trend towards screwing you with the type/grade of metal ... instead of paying you R100 a kg for what use to be regarded as shiny bright ... now copper water pipe for example is no longer regarded as shiney bright it has a much lower grade ... and hence the price drops significantly. same thing with wire and ballasts etc ... they grade it as class 1 metal ... resulting in a ridiculously low price.

Verify the grade and price and the persons name ... before heading out to stand in the que ... and shop around.

I did a few calculations today and realised it is not worth the time and effort to sell scrap metal (only shiny bright copper)... so instead of paying for someone to collect the scrap at the workshop ... I will be contacting the local merchant who shouts for scrap metal from an old bakkie ... he can collect all the scrap and take the metal for free to cover the dumping cost ... the only thing I am concerned about is he doesnt go the the dump ... he throws the rubbish out on an open plot ... ti seems to be the new thing for everyone since the dump closed in our area.

**AndyD** · 10-Dec-21, 09:50 PM

I had a general clean out of my workshop about 6 months ago which resulted in a pile of scrap, mostly old motors, compressors, pumps and steel distribution panels. It was way too heavy to transport it by bakkies so I had a scrap guy come pick it up with a truck and I followed him to the yard where it was weighed. We had a small side bet on what the weight would be, I guessed at 3.5 ton and the scrap guy thought it was about 2.5 ton. It turned out to be 4.2 tons and they paid out over R8.5K there and then in cash without batting an eyelid.