Kirby 401(k) Plan
Kirby Corporation · Houston, TX · EIN 741884980 · Plan 004 · Form 5500 for plan year 2024
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. That is the whole employer side, matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions and reallocated forfeitures together, because the Form 5500 reports them on one line, so it is not the match rate.
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 CORP 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: Form 5500 filing for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, received by the DOL October 13, 2025 · 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 on its own for plan year 2025: the section 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 the plan cost, per participant
$82.41
The plan paid $82.41 per participant in plan-paid administrative expenses in plan year 2024, more expensive than 73% of plans with 5,000+ participants. The middle plan of that size paid $54.84.
Why a plan this big pays less per person before anything else
Bigger plans pay less per head by construction, because the same negotiated bill divides across more people. That is why this ranking sits inside the plan's own size cohort and is never taken across all plans.
Schedule H reports only what came out of plan assets. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees taken inside fund expense ratios, never appear here, so this is a floor and not the all-in cost.
401(k) Monitor Score
68 out of 100
Where this plan stands against plans of its size and industry on two amounts its Form 5500 reports: employer money in per active person, and plan-paid cost per person. It reads no match formula, no vesting schedule and no fund lineup, because a Form 5500 states none of them.
- What the employer put in, per active participant: $6,120. Higher than 86% of plans with 5,000+ participants in transportation and logistics.
- What the plan cost, per participant: $82.41. Cheaper than 27% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
On this page: the match and vesting terms · what to check next · every figure on the filing · fees itemised · the plans this one is ranked against · service providers
The match and vesting terms, from a Form 11-K
The match formula and the vesting schedule are stated in a Form 11-K, which is filed only by employers whose plan holds company stock. A Form 5500 reports neither.
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.
The match, vesting and eligibility terms above are read from the Form 11-K filed by KIRBY CORP, whose page states the full formula, the vesting schedule and the sentence behind each one.
What to check next
Collecting the whole match
KIRBY’s Form 11-K pays the whole match at 3% of pay, which is $1,485 a year at a $49,500 salary and scales with your own. Your payslip and your Merrill Benefits OnLine ↗ account both show the rate you set. A rate below 3% collects less than the whole match.
That Form 11-K covers plan year 2025. The plan’s Summary Plan Description states the terms in force, and the plan administrator must provide it to participants on request.
Your own numbers are not on this page
Every figure here is the whole plan for plan year 2024, taken from one filing and divided by headcounts. Your own contribution rate, your balance and the fees taken from your account are on your recordkeeper’s site, which this filing names as Merrill Benefits OnLine ↗. What you may put in during a year is set by the IRS and not by the plan: this year’s limits ↗.
Key figures
| Total plan assets, end of year | $850,124,257 |
|---|---|
| Net assets | $850,124,257 |
| Participants, beginning of year | 6,574 |
| Of which active | 5,146 |
| Plan type | Single employer |
| Size cohortThe peer group we rank fees against. | 5,000+ participants |
| Employer share of the money that went in, plan year 2024The rest came from employees, who put in $30,123,133. The share falls when employees save more, so a plan whose staff contribute heavily reads lower here through no act of the employer. It is printed as a fact and it is not part of the score. | 51% |
Plan-paid administrative expenses
The plan paid $541,791 in administrative expenses in plan year 2024, across 6,574 participants: $82.41 per participant.
| Contract administrator fees | not reported in filing |
|---|---|
| Professional fees | not reported in filing |
| Investment management fees | $52,500 |
| Other administrative fees | $1,800 |
These are plan-paid expenses from Schedule H only. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees embedded in fund expense ratios, never appear here. This figure is a floor, not the all-in cost, and a low number is not “free”.
The plans this one is ranked against
Fees on this page are ranked against the 5,000+ participant cohort, where the median plan pays $54.84 per participant. The sponsor files from Texas, one of 4,254 plans on file there, at a median of $107.93 per participant. Its business code places the plan in transportation and logistics, one of 1,926 on file, which run to a median of $95.71.
Plans of a similar size in Texas
| Plan | Participants | Cost per participant |
|---|---|---|
| Michaels Stores, Inc. Employees 401(k) PlanMichaels Stores, Inc. | 6,591 | $133.17 |
| Fiesta Mart, L.L.C. 401(k) Retirement And Savings PlanFiesta Mart, L.L.C. | 6,584 | $17.00 |
| Menzies Aviation (USA), Inc. 401(k) PlanMenzie's Aviation (USA), Inc. | 6,544 | $44.15 |
| Mv Transportation, Inc. 401(k) PlanMv Transportation, Inc. | 6,517 | $41.15 |
Service providers (Schedule C)
Recordkeeper: Merrill Lynch (as filed: “MERRILL LYNCH”)
| Provider | Service codes | Direct comp. ($) | Indirect comp. ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill Lynch | 33, 15 | 448,799 | 0 |
| Amg Ops- Fee Group | 28, 16 | 52,500 | not reported |
| Weaver And Tidwell, LLP | 50, 10 | 32,550 | not reported |
| Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP | 29 | 6,142 | not reported |
Useful links
- Find a 401(k) you left at an old job ↗
The DOL's Retirement Savings Lost & Found. Free and official.
- Look up this plan's full Form 5500 ↗
The DOL's own filing search. Search by plan or sponsor name.
- Download this plan's data (CSV) ↗
Every field on this page, one row, ready for a spreadsheet.
Source
| Dataset | DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 bulk data (FOIA) |
|---|---|
| Form year | 2024 |
| Filing ACK_ID | 20251013140313NAL0000689059003 |
| Dataset last refreshed | July 28, 2026 |
Bulk dataset at askebsa.dol.gov ↗ · Look up the filing on EFAST2 ↗
Filings lag by design: a plan can file up to 9½ months after its year ends, so this is the newest data on file. Why filings lag
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, "Kirby 401(k) Plan: Form 5500 facts", from DOL EFAST2 filing 20251013140313NAL0000689059003, plan year ended December 31, 2024. 401(k) Monitor Score 68 out of 100 (exact value 68.44).