Truckers around the world have stepped forward to support embattled Ukrainians with humanitarian aid. Some Ukrainian national truckers are putting themselves in harm’s way to keep the supply chains open.
“Somebody has to do this. It’s my war — my war is to deliver goods,” Vadim Pashkiuskiy, a Ukrainian living in Berlin reportedly said while loading his truck for the perilous return home. “It may be dangerous, but it’s my responsibility to my country. I’m not hiding. I’m doing whatever I can to help.”
The sentiments from Ukraine-born truckers echo those of Americans who kept food, products, and materials flowing to towns and cities during the most uncertain times of the pandemic. Bombs were not exploding, but an unseen virus took lives as indiscriminately as soldiers seizing ground in Ukraine.
“A week and a half ago, all of these drivers were on their regular routes in Europe when the world changed,” Ewa Herzog, a Ukrainian national loading truck in Berlin bound for her homeland, reportedly said. “Not that far away from us, people are screaming for help. We have to hear their voices and help the regular people of Ukraine.”
Truckers thousands of miles apart may not know each other, but it appears they share a fundamental bond. During times of crisis, truckers seem to answer the call and get a sometimes thankless job done. Just as everyday Americans depended on truckers to deliver more than 72 percent of the country’s goods during the height of the pandemic, Ukrainian truckers now face mortar shells and bullets to give their people a lifeline.
“It’s much riskier to drive these big trucks in the streets of cities like Kyiv,” Herzog reportedly said. “It’s just not safe.”
In the U.S., truckers and countless volunteers are working tirelessly to send aid to neighboring Poland in hopes a trucker will see the cargo through. Standard Trucking, owned by a Ukrainian-American, donated the use of its warehouse and logistics systems in Detroit to gather supplies. A pair of shipments tallying 3,000 pounds each have reportedly been air-shipped to Poland.
“When you watch news, and you see all those horrific acts that’s going on in Ukraine, you just feel helpless and depressed in a way,” Standard Trucking’s Nazarii Semchyshyn reportedly said. “But as soon as you start doing something, collecting things, or donating, you feel better about yourself, and you feel that you’re making a difference.”
The Trucking Cares Foundation approved donations of $42,000 to help Ukrainians through Save the Children, the International Red Cross, and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Support continues to pour in from compassionate people around the world as freight hauling and logistics operations ensure food, blankets, and other necessities find their way to people in need.
Sources: theoaklandpress.com, prnewswire.com, truckingcares.org, tlpu.net, washingtonpost.com
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