Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/835233
50 commercial carrier journal | june 2017 executives meet throughout the year to share business strategies and best practices to improve Daseke's overall performance. Daseke already o ers a 401(k) plan with a company match up to 4 percent and other bene ts, but Daseke and his executive team wanted to develop a program that values its drivers in a way that sets the Daseke companies apart from the other 99 percent of the atbed market. "I've said from day one that people make the di erence," said Daseke. "In our industry, professional truck drivers truly are the heart and soul of everything we do." With that mindset, Daseke announced its intentions to develop an employee stock ownership awards program at the same time the company went public. "From the beginning, our plan was to have a stock program for all of our employees, including an industry- rst public stock plan for our company driv- ers," Daseke said. "We always have had a vision of a stock ownership plan that all employees could participate in, but we couldn't do that o cially as a private company," adding that was the No. 1 motive behind the decision to go public. "Giving our people the opportunity to be owners in Daseke is a great day for me on a very personal level." Daseke made good on its plan, o cial- ly rolling out the Daseke Employee Stock Ownership Awards program in May as a cost-free bene t above and beyond normal compensation. e company earmarked roughly one million shares at an estimated value of $9.9 million to be awarded to eligible employees, including 2,100 drivers and 800 non-driving per- sonnel who began their Daseke careers by yearend 2016. Stock grants also will be available to Daseke drivers and employ- ees who begin working for a Daseke company this year. Daseke's employee stock award program was developed as a recruit- ing and retention tool as well as to give all employees a personal interest in the company's performance. "Open-deck drivers have challenging jobs, which include irregular routes, being away from home for two weeks at a time, climbing on the atbed to strap loads and cover cargo with heavy tarps even when it is raining or snowing," said Daseke. "And when people feel like they are an owner, they will represent them- selves at customers better, create new ideas and procedures. We want people to think in those terms." To become eligible, employees must begin employment by yearend 2017 and stay with a Daseke company for one full quarter. Stock unit awards then are awarded beginning the following quarter. e number of shares employees re- ceive depends on the current stock value for Daseke (NASDAQ: DSKE) at the date of the grant. For company drivers, the program provides $4,000 worth of stock units. Non-driving employees receive grants determined by the operating head of each Daseke subsidiary. e vesting schedule takes place over a ve-year period. On the anniversary of the stock award grant date, 20 percent of the awarded stock units will mature into ownership stock. Each following anniver- sary, an additional 20 percent of the stock units will be vested similarly. Vested stocks are taxed as compen- sation by the federal government, so Daseke's payroll department with- holds the necessary number of shares required and uses those to pay taxes on an employee's behalf. Employees can manage and monitor their stock performance and vesting schedule in Shareworks, a web portal provided by Solium, Daseke's stock plan administrator. " is is about being an owner," said Daseke. "We want people to come together, be empowered and build our company with the mindset of ownership. We are just now making it to rst base in our strategy to build the premier special- ized open-deck transportation company in North America." CC J I N N O VATO R S pro les carriers and eets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Je Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. Daseke company executives gather at the Nasdaq Capital Market for a bell-ringing ceremony: from left, Scott Hoppe, president, E.W. Wylie; Rendy Taylor, president, WTI Transport; Dan Wirkkala, president, Smokey Point Distributing; Chris Hornady, CEO, Hornady Transportation; Don Daseke, president and CEO, Daseke; Mark Randolph, CEO, J. Grady Randolph; Phil Byrd Sr., CEO, Bulldog Hiway Express; Gail Cooper, CEO, The Boyd Companies; Tex Robbins, CEO, Lone Star Transportation; Rick Williams, CEO, Central Oregon Truck Co.; Chris Cooper, president, The Boyd Companies; and Scott Wheeler, executive vice president and CFO, Daseke.