By now, everyone in the trucking industry has become acutely aware of a trucker shortage. There simply aren’t enough qualified truckers on the road (about 280,000 fewer than are needed across the country). That is hurting companies that depend on trucking, but it’s been a boon for trucking companies themselves.

As a result of the shortage, trucking spot rates climbed by 27 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from the first quarter of 2017. This is good news for trucking companies, but it’s also good news for truckers who are getting paid more.

Companies contracting with trucking outfits are offering more incentives – including higher pay – to the trucking companies in order to attract them to deliver their goods. Additionally, customers that don’t treat truckers very well or slow down the process have to pay a pretty premium to make up for it, which further lines the pockets of carriers and their contractors or employees.

Some brands are even adding creature comforts, like Nestle did when it built a break room for truckers in one of its California warehouses, complete with snacks, a television, and restrooms.

As the need for trucking continues to expand – and as the supply of truckers struggles to match it – truckers and their employers are set to reap the benefits.

Of course, the shortage isn’t good news for companies that produce the goods that need to be shipped. Increased shipping costs have eaten into profits of major companies like 3M and Walmart, and that cost has to be borne by someone down the line, either the company itself, its employees, or – eventually – consumers.

If the shortage worsens over a prolonged period of time, its overall impact of the economy could be negative.

So far, though, trucking companies have seen an increase in business, even if the shortage has caused many to become frustrated at how difficult it is to find qualified drivers.

Now, shippers are competing with one another to win the favor of carriers. Whether this trend continues through 2018 and into 2019 depends on how quickly the industry can ramp up labor and make up for some of the 280,000 missing truckers the nation needs.

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