What Can ESOP Mean for a Driver at TMC?

What Can ESOP Mean for a Driver at TMC?

TMC Transportation became an Employee Owned company in October 2013 when our CEO, Mr. Harrold Annett, decided to hand the company over to his employees as his long term succession plan for TMC, rather than putting the company into someone else’s hands. This decision resulted in an establishment of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and has made a huge impact in the both the future of our company and its employees.

Since the time we became Employee Owned, there’s been a lot of misconceptions on how ESOP works. Some have had the misconception that our company drivers are now owner-operators, which is false. Our company drivers are still company drivers. They do not have to pay for their fuel, equipment, fixing their trucks, etc. That is all paid by the company just like before, with no out-of-pocket costs.

Our ESOP is simply an additional retirement account similar to a 401(k), (which we also offer), but unlike a 401(k) the employees do not contribute any of their own money. There is also a vesting schedule with our ESOP, in the event that an employee leaves our company prior to retirement. Employees are 20% vested after 2 years of service, 40% after 3 years, 60% after 4 years, 80% after 5 years, and 100% vested after 6 years of service with TMC.

We’ve discovered based on our ESOP numbers for 2014 that the share values allocated to our drivers were averaging out to the equivalent of an extra 5 and a half cents/mile placed in a retirement account. That’s on top of all other earnings at no cost to our drivers.

When it comes to explaining what TMC being Employee Owned can mean for a driver…nobody says it better than former TMC driver turned fleet manager, Mark Sickmiller! Our latest corporate video explains the basics of our ESOP, and what that can mean for our drivers and their futures:

Give us a call with any questions at 800-247-2862 or visit us online at www.tmctrans.com!

Click to watch the video!