Daseke announces stock plan for drivers
Daseke Inc. announced a new stock plan designed around professional company truck drivers. Daseke became a public company earlier this year and is traded on NASDAQ (DSKE, DSKEW).
An estimated one million shares of common stock with a current valuation of an estimated $9.9 million have been earmarked for the 2017 employee stock awards program. Restricted stock units, (which are the right to receive common stock, subject to various vesting, transfer and other restrictions and which are referred to as “stock grants”), will be awarded to the approximate 2,100 company drivers and 800 support team employees who are employed by Daseke operating companies, and who were with a Daseke company in 2016. Stock grants will also be made to company drivers and support team employees who joined, or will join, a Daseke company in 2017.
“I’ve said from day one that people make the difference – we invest in people. In our industry, professional truck drivers truly are the heart and soul of everything we do,” said Don Daseke, president and CEO of Daseke.
“We want professional truck drivers and all our support team employees to have ownership in Daseke. To our knowledge, we are the first public for-hire trucking company to have a program that makes professional truck drivers company shareholders,” said Daseke. “It’s very exciting for me personally. A driver stock program was something I have been passionate about from the very beginning. This is about being an owner. We want people to come together, be empowered and build our company with the mindset of ownership.”
Stock grants will be awarded after one full quarter of service. Professional company drivers and support team employees who were hired in the first quarter of 2017, for example, will be granted stock grants in July 2017. Initial stock grant awards for those employed on Dec. 31, 2016, will begin in June 2017.
“This is a program that is above and beyond what our operating companies already have in place with new hires, and it rewards those drivers who help us build the future,” said Daseke. “What’s more, we offer industry leading benefits, such as a 401(k) match of up to 4 percent, and a top-tier health care plan.”
Many of the Daseke companies have been named as a Best Fleet to Drive For® by the Truckload Carriers Association in partnership with CarriersEdge, as well as have won numerous safety awards.
“We’re focused on quality,” said Daseke. “We continue to grow, recently adding two new premier companies to our family – The Schilli Companies, headquartered in Indiana and Big Freight Systems, headquartered in Manitoba, Canada. We want our people to experience ownership as we work every day to build value for our customers and our owners.”
