What is the biggest sign on bonus you have ever been offered? A $3000 sign on bonus? $4000? More?
Have you ever changed companies because you saw another truck advertise a massive sign on bonus?
How could you not? You see enough trucks on the road that promise huge bonuses if you would just drop your current company and go work for someone else. It seems like the easiest payday imaginable.
If you have changed companies based on a sign on bonus, then you know that it is a lie, right?
Sign on bonuses are nothing more than empty promises to convince you to work elsewhere for the promise of an easy pay day.
More often than not, you are forced into signing up to a deal that is loaded with ifs, ands, or buts.
Instead of being given a hefty sign on bonus, you are given the keys to a worn-down truck and told to get moving, then you are right back where you were at the start of this process.
But worst of all, when you leave a company you lose any tenure and experience you may have built there. Then when you realize that you have been tricked into leaving your company, going back does not seem so viable.
These fake sign on bonuses usually work like this:
You might be offered ¢34 a mile, the average for Professional OTR Driver pay, with a $5000 sign on bonus, which is an above average sign on bonus. But the fine print says the sign on bonus will be paid out over the course of a year.
So first, you are not being cut a check for $5000 at all. Instead, that $5000 is being lightly sprinkled on your pay for an entire year. So your pay now looks like ¢38 cents per mile.
But, that is ¢38 per mile AFTER you complete orientation, stay with the company longer than 90 days, and if you quit, leave, or displease the company in any way, you forfeit the remainder of the sign on bonus you were promised.
Or have you ever had a company offer to match the ShipEX package? It is common that other companies will race to match other offers you have received, even if it is just a lie to get you to join their fleet.
More often than not, the other company does not even have the infrastructure, let alone intent, to match what ShipEX offers.
Sign on bonuses, claiming they will offer salary pay, despite never advertising salary. It is all an illusion. None of it is real. All that happens is that you are lied to repeatedly until you are so fed up that you quit.
Just like with cents per mile, pet policies, and using old equipment, ShipEX saw the way every other company operates, and we chose to do better.
We choose not to lie; therefore, we do not offer a sign on bonus.
Instead we offer straightforward Orientation Pay.
After Orientation, when you are dispatched on your first load, you will receive a no-nonsense one-time payment of $1000, before taxes, to ease the transition to ShipEX, eliminating the need to worry about how your bills will be paid while you join ShipEX.
After your first full week of driving with ShipEX you will begin earning your $1154 a week, before taxes, true salary.
We studied the industry standards and found them to be lacking. Aren’t you upset when you must jump through an absurd number of hoops, only to be lied to about how much you will be making?
We believe in being honest AND transparent about how much we pay our Professional Truck Drivers. It allows you to reliably count on making $1154 a week before taxes.
You may look at our Orientation Pay and say “Well, that’s just a sign on bonus with fewer steps” and that is incorrect. We do not bury our Orientation Pay in your salary, we simply give you a check for $1000, before taxes, once you have passed our Orientation classes and hit the road. It eliminates the hassle of missing a payday, making the transition from your old company to ShipEX as smooth as possible. And that’s the ShipEX difference and how we deliver what matters most to you.
Do not let yourself be fooled by the hollow promises of an enormous sign on bonus. Next time you are called and offered a new job with a massive sign on bonus, take the time to ask them what hoops you must jump through to earn that extraordinary pay day.
Disclaimer:
This blog post is for informational purposes only. ShipEX makes no warranties about the completeness, reliability or accuracy of this information. Any action that you take upon the information on this website is strictly at your own risk, and ShipEX will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection therewith. Furthermore, nothing in this blog alters ShipEX Policies which are subject to change without notice.
