why do some of these companies have such a big sign on bonus?

Mt.Dew.... spend some time browsing and reading old posts and talking to other drivers before starting 100 similar threads.... mods gunna rip your ##### haha

 

Good question mtn dew, I've wondering the same thing myself.

 

Who offers a $10,000 sign on bonus for company drivers?
All in all, you just need to do your research on these companies, and also read the fine print. It all really comes down to the company.

 

I saw a Schneider ad for teams offering $10k sign on bonus.

 

Listen up. No company gives you anything. Period. All money you get is earned. The rest is just packaging.

Since the beginning of time man has wanted to get something for nothing. It never has happened it never will. A magician will use something to distract you while a pick pocket steals your watch. That is what is going on. You focus on the $10k bonus while missing the fact that they are paying you $15k less then they should.

When you drive the truck for 35 Cents per mile, do you have any idea how much the customer is paying the company. No. Do you know how much the total cost to operate the truck is? No. So how do you know what a fair wage should be. You don't. Now if you were in a UNION that would be negotiated for you. But as it is, you take whatever wages they want to pay you. A bonus is a gimmick to convince the feeble minded to toe the line until the company has what it wants.

 

Normally what happens is these companies bid to run the logistics for the companies like walmart, target, auto parts stores, etc and they win the bid. But don't have enough drivers to cover it. So they are desperate and offer these sign on bonuses that have all kinds of loop holes. So even though you get in the door you get small parts of the sign on bonus throughout your year or whatever the contract stipulates. Most probably won't stay the full term to get it, but some might. I'm sure there is probably a penalty the trucking company pays if they can't keep their end of the bargain to run the bids they win. So it might even cost them more then the 10,000 they are paying you.

 

It's not always bad. I got $1000 sign on bonus when I worked for QC, had a good experience, made good money. Only left because the affiliate declared bankruptcy and closed the terminal.

On the other hand, companies offering a huge sign on bonus (in my area, Western Express offering $7500 for example) is a giant warning sign. These companies overall have insane driver turnover, low rates, poor hometime and a generally bad employee environment.

Like the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

I always wondered how these companies that offer a sign on bonus might do if they turned it around and offered a retention bonus instead. May just cut into to their recruiting department and all their false promises.

 

Great idea! Unfortunately it would work in reverse to a recruitment bonus - you still don't get paid what you're worth, but they throw you a bone after 5 years ( which gets slammed with gift tax)

I think Kennesaw did this last year at Christmas.