This has been bubbling for quite a while, expect both parties to...

This has been bubbling for quite a while, expect both parties to take extreme positions in public. Kudos to management and the BOL chairman (ex MD of PRG) for setting up the casual labour business, Readi. It provides them with wonderful flexibility for these exact occasions which their competitors do not possess. A nice way of growing market share in the unlikely occurrence that notable industry labor cost inflation occurs. If it does occur, this accelerates the rental price increases which are coming either way given the sharply tightening industry capacity and given pricing is too low to incentivise net industry supply growth.
Nice to see a Warren Buffet subsidiary deeming the Australian Crane industry a good use of allocating capital for growth. Consistent wIth BOL lifting its capex levels (albeit still below D&A) reflecting the highly attractive returns it can earn deploying incremental capital post a very long industry downturn. The vast, vast majority of BOL competitors do not have the same luxury to exploit these incremental return opportunities. No surprise given the duration of the downturn, the recent industry bankruptcies and tight financing environment following on from this.
Agree with Madamswer that BOL is not a high quality business. At least they have spent the downturn increasing the flexibility within the cost base which was the company's major undoing from 2011-2016. Never let a crisis go to waste etc. While not a high quality business, as a cyclical business they can generate very high returns for investors when purchased early on in an industry upswing (i.e now).