KIRBY CORP 401(k): Merrill Lynch, match 3% max
Kirby 401(k) Plan · KEX · CIK 56047
Merrill Lynch is the recordkeeper named on the Form 5500 filed for this plan, the company that keeps the account records. Where to log in, and what the filing says.
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
3%
KIRBY CORP matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · who holds your account · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What KIRBY puts in, and what the plan costs
What KIRBY put into the plan, per active participant
$6,120
KIRBY CORP put $6,120 into this plan for each of its 5,146 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
KIRBY put in more per active participant than 86% of plans with 5,000+ participants in transportation and logistics. The middle plan in that group of 124 reported $1,783. Transportation and logistics comes from business code 483000, which KIRBY entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much KIRBY pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 741884980, plan 004 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $6,120 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. KIRBY CORP also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,485 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What KIRBY puts in
$1,485
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Each employee is eligible to join the Plan as of the first pay period following completion of three months of service and the attainment of age 18 unless specified otherwise by a collective bargaining agreement. The Plan allows Non-Highly Compensated Employees, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), to contribute up to 50% of considered compensation, as defined by the Plan and Highly Compensated Employees to contribute up to 17% of considered compensation. Employee contributions to the Plan up to 50% of considered compensation are allowed under certain collective bargaining agreements. Participants age 50 or older during the Plan year may also elect to make a “catch‑up” contribution, subject to certain IRS limits ($7,500 in both 2025 and 2024, and a higher catch-up contribution of $11,250 for employees aged 60 through 63 in 2025). The Plan allows participants to designate their contributions as either pretax contributions or Roth (after-tax) contributions. The Company contributes matching employer contributions equal to 100% of the employee’s contribution, up to 3% of the employee’s considered compensation. Each participant directs his or her contributions and the Company’s matching contributions between the investment funds offered by the Plan, including Company common stock.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 3% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $1,485 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
Not scored
The filing states a graded schedule but not the years and percentages that make it up.
A schedule this cannot read at whole-year anniversaries is left without a number rather than given a middle one.
The filing states a graded schedule but not the years and percentages that make it up.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are 100% vested in their participant contributions and rollovers, if any. Employer contributions are subject to a six-year vesting schedule. The vesting schedule of employer contributions for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements are specified by those particular agreements. Forfeitures in the amount of $365,520 and $192,586 as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, were available to offset future employer contributions or plan administrative expenses at the discretion of the Company.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
73rd percentile
$82.41 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 73% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is KIRBY's 401(k) match formula?
KIRBY's 401(k) employer match tops out at 3% of pay. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 3% of compensation |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | Vessel based employees of Kirby Offshore Marine, LLC whose employment is covered by collective bargaining agreements receive a non-discretionary employer match based on the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement |
| Other employer contribution | Discretionary employer contribution equal to 5% of considered compensation for eligible employees of United Holdings, LLC, Stewart & Stevenson LLC, certain vessel personnel and shore based tankermen of Kirby Inland Marine, LP, and Kirby Offshore Marine employees classified as Vessel Employees ($17,629,538 contributed for the 2025 Plan year) |
| Other employer contribution | Discretionary Profit Sharing contribution for eligible employees not covered under a collective bargaining agreement, the Company's pension plans, or employer discretionary contributions ($4,496,498 contributed on July 1, 2025 for the 2025 Plan year) |
| Other employer contribution | Vessel based employees of Kirby Offshore Marine covered by collective bargaining agreements may receive a discretionary employer contribution based on the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement |
At a $90,000 salary, contributing 3% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,700 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Each employee is eligible to join the Plan as of the first pay period following completion of three months of service and the attainment of age 18 unless specified otherwise by a collective bargaining agreement. The Plan allows Non-Highly Compensated Employees, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), to contribute up to 50% of considered compensation, as defined by the Plan and Highly Compensated Employees to contribute up to 17% of considered compensation. Employee contributions to the Plan up to 50% of considered compensation are allowed under certain collective bargaining agreements. Participants age 50 or older during the Plan year may also elect to make a “catch‑up” contribution, subject to certain IRS limits ($7,500 in both 2025 and 2024, and a higher catch-up contribution of $11,250 for employees aged 60 through 63 in 2025). The Plan allows participants to designate their contributions as either pretax contributions or Roth (after-tax) contributions. The Company contributes matching employer contributions equal to 100% of the employee’s contribution, up to 3% of the employee’s considered compensation. Each participant directs his or her contributions and the Company’s matching contributions between the investment funds offered by the Plan, including Company common stock.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is KIRBY's 401(k) vesting schedule?
KIRBY vests the employer match on a graded schedule; the filing does not set out the year-by-year percentages. Each step is money that leaves with you that year, which is how a graded schedule differs from a cliff.
| Employer match vesting | Graded schedule (see filing) |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Other employer contributions | Employer contributions are subject to a six-year vesting schedule; the vesting schedule for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements is specified by those agreements |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are 100% vested in their participant contributions and rollovers, if any. Employer contributions are subject to a six-year vesting schedule. The vesting schedule of employer contributions for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements are specified by those particular agreements. Forfeitures in the amount of $365,520 and $192,586 as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, were available to offset future employer contributions or plan administrative expenses at the discretion of the Company.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join KIRBY's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
KIRBY enrolls new hires automatically at 3% of pay.
| Plan entry | Each employee is eligible to join the Plan as of the first pay period following completion of three months of service and the attainment of age 18, unless specified otherwise by a collective bargaining agreement |
|---|---|
| Excluded groups | Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, the terms of which do not provide for participation in the Plan, are not eligible |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 3% of pay |
Eligibility, word for word
“Each employee is eligible to join the Plan as of the first pay period following completion of three months of service and the attainment of age 18 unless specified otherwise by a collective bargaining agreement. The Plan allows Non-Highly Compensated Employees, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), to contribute up to 50% of considered compensation, as defined by the Plan and Highly Compensated Employees to contribute up to 17% of considered compensation. Employee contributions to the Plan up to 50% of considered compensation are allowed under certain collective bargaining agreements. Participants age 50 or older during the Plan year may also elect to make a “catch‑up” contribution, subject to certain IRS limits ($7,500 in both 2025 and 2024, and a higher catch-up contribution of $11,250 for employees aged 60 through 63 in 2025). The Plan allows participants to designate their contributions as either pretax contributions or Roth (after-tax) contributions. The Company contributes matching employer contributions equal to 100% of the employee’s contribution, up to 3% of the employee’s considered compensation. Each participant directs his or her contributions and the Company’s matching contributions between the investment funds offered by the Plan, including Company common stock.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“All employees hired or rehired are automatically enrolled at a 3% pretax contribution rate, unless otherwise elected by the participant. In addition, participants may contribute amounts representing rollovers from other qualified plans or from an individual retirement arrangement.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who holds your account
Schedule C of the Form 5500 filed for plan year 2024 reports Merrill Lynch. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to. The trustee that holds the plan’s assets can be a different company, and this filing does not name it.
Participants log in at Merrill Benefits OnLine ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Merrill Lynch or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Merrill Lynch |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 135674085 |
| Recordkeeper address | 4 World Financial Center, 250 Vesey, New York, NY 10281 |
What does the KIRBY plan report on Form 5500?
The KIRBY plan reported $850.1M in assets and 6,574 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $850,124,257 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 6,574 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $82.41 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $82.41 per participant. The median across plans in transportation and logistics is $95.71, from the 1,843 of 1,926 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
Kirby 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does KIRBY's 401(k) match compare?
KIRBY CORP's maximum 401(k) match of 3% of pay compares with a median of 4% across the 269 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file in transportation and logistics and three land near KIRBY's maximum match.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in transportation and logistics.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in transportation and logistics.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in transportation and logistics.
Maximum match 3% of pay, level with KIRBY.
Maximum match 3% of pay, level with KIRBY.
Maximum match 3% of pay, level with KIRBY.
What can you do next?
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
Questions this filing answers
What is KIRBY CORP's 401(k) match?
Kirby Corporation matches 100% of employee contributions up to 3% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the KIRBY CORP 401(k) match vest?
Graded schedule (see filing).
Does KIRBY CORP's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 3% of pay.
Who is the recordkeeper for KIRBY CORP's 401(k)?
Merrill Lynch is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for Kirby 401(k) Plan for plan year 2024. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to.
Source
The match formula, the vesting schedule and the enrollment rules on this page were read from one document: the Form 11-K annual report that KIRBY CORP filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each of those fields carries the filing sentence it was read from, expandable where the field appears. Nothing on this page was supplied by the employer to this site.
The plan assets, the participant counts, the plan-paid fees and the recordkeeper come from a different document, the plan’s DOL Form 5500 annual return, and the section that reports them links it. Comparisons with other employers are computed across the filings named in the section they appear in.
Read the filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
| Document | Form 11-K annual report |
|---|---|
| Filed with | US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) |
| Filed by | KIRBY CORP |
| SEC CIK | 56047 |
| Accession number | 0001193125-26-285725 |
| Plan | Kirby 401(k) Plan |
| Period of report | December 31, 2025 |
| Filed | June 26, 2026 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with KIRBY CORP, with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with this plan’s recordkeeper, and publishes this page without their involvement. It republishes a public filing and says where it came from.
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, “KIRBY CORP 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001193125-26-285725, plan year ended December 31, 2025.
