On the last Sunday of October, everyone who spends their days behind the wheel and has tied their professional life to transport celebrates Driver’s Day. And this day is not only about drivers of road vehicles, but also about operators of special-purpose machinery, including the giant haul trucks that work in open-pit mines. Read about those who never stop and whose destiny is to always stay in motion.
Metinvest’s Mining and Processing Plants are home to a large team of professionals – employees of motor transport departments responsible for the safe movement of cargo and passengers, as well as drivers of mining transport shops and technological transport units.
The renowned teams of the Mine Haulage Shop and Technological Motor Transport Shops are masters of colossal mining equipment. Every professional here – whether behind a wheel or a control panel – contributes to meeting production targets, working for a common result. This occasion celebrates everyone engaged in transporting cargo and mined rock, organising and carrying out repair work. It is also a day for those who use machinery to maintain road conditions, who maintain and repair vehicles – mechanics, electricians, and fitters. And even for those who coordinate traffic flows and design routes – dispatchers. As well as those who find the time and resources to support volunteers and, sometimes risking their lives, take part in numerous humanitarian initiatives.
Heroes Behind the Wheel
Since the war unleashed by Russia back in 2014, many of our drivers have traded city streets and industrial roads for frontline routes. That is why this day also honours those who are now defending Ukraine’s independence and serving in the Defence Forces. Among them is Ingulets resident Yevhen Popovych. After completing his military service, Yevhen joined Ingulets Iron Ore, and Driver’s Day became his professional holiday. He worked his way up from a passenger car driver to a bulldozer operator. Later, he moved on to driving a mining haul truck, and eventually became a mechanic in Motor pool No. 2 of the Technological Motor Transport Shop at Ingulets Iron Ore. From this position, on 1 March 2022, Yevhen volunteered to go to the front.
“First, I served as a driver in the engineering support group of the 17th Separate Tank Brigade. I travelled across Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts,” says Yevhen Popovych, serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and formerly a mechanic of Motor pool No. 2 of the Technological Motor Transport Shop at Ingulets Iron Ore. “I also worked as a sapper. After being wounded in 2024, I was sent to France for training in explosive ordnance disposal. Now I’m studying at the National Academy of Land Forces, after which I will continue my service as an officer…”
“Every workplace I’ve had in my life has always brought me satisfaction. To be honest, working with different types of vehicles, repairing and operating them – that’s my true element. Now I’m directing my efforts in another area, but life requires it.”
A Reliable Shoulder
Professional drivers are always there when something needs to be delivered from point A to point B. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, they have been helping numerous volunteer groups carry out their missions. The motor transport departments of the Metinvest Iron Ore are always ready to support the volunteers of the enterprises: they regularly provide vehicles to meet the needs of retirees’ associations, which from the first days of the invasion have been actively helping soldiers on various frontline areas with warm clothing, camouflage nets, food, blankets, socks, and more.
As Tetiana Sheludko, Head of the Veterans’ Council, notes, they can always rely on the steadfast support of the motor transport teams: every request they send to the leadership – Head of the Motor Transport Shop of Northern Iron Ore Viktor Miroshnychenko and his Deputy for Operations, Dmytro Tanania – is met with sincere assistance. The shop is an essential link in the well-coordinated support for the frontline and provides transport for volunteer needs every week.
More Than Just Drivers
The motor transport community of the plant brings together many remarkable people. Like components of a giant mechanism, haul truck drivers, truck and car drivers, dispatchers, crane and aerial platform operators, bulldozer and tractor drivers, as well as an army of fitters, technicians, and storekeepers all work together in sync. They all perform their duties diligently and conscientiously. What unites them is their love for a challenging profession, and for most of them, Driver’s Day has become a family holiday.
Thirty-five-year-old Oleksii Lobkov has been working at Northern Iron Ore for ten years. In 2015, he and his family moved from Luhansk region to Kryvyi Rih. He works in one of the most demanding driving professions: he operates a mobile crane.
“I became a driver after my father – I’ve been behind the wheel since I was 18, so now I have 17 years of experience. Of course, I prefer driving a regular car, but I enjoy operating a mobile crane too. It’s a very specific type of vehicle – not an easy one. Not everyone can handle it, and maybe it won’t submit to just anyone. We always try to celebrate Driver’s Day with friends and family. At work, it’s harder to celebrate now: our team has thinned out, and sometimes at night there’s simply no one to take the shift. The workload has also increased: tasks that used to be done by several vehicles are now done by one. But we keep going, we overcome all challenges together to bring our victory closer. And I’m gradually passing my skills on to my sons: while the older child hasn't shown much interest in driving, the younger one is already captivated by automobiles.
Fascinating stories from his father about trips, encounters with interesting people, classic driver tales, and a passion for machinery left their mark on the family of Serhii Yalkovskyi, a driver of Motor pool No. 2 at Central Iron Ore.
“Maybe it’s in the genes,” Serhii jokes. “My father worked in a motor depot, driving people along a city route. So I’ve also been behind the wheel since I was 18. I have all driving licence categories. I came to Central Iron Ore 20 years ago. At first, I worked in a shift bus, transporting employees to the workplace in the Hleiuvatka quarry and taking them back after their shifts. Now I basically do the same, only with a larger vehicle – a bus.
Is there any difference for me in what I drive? Honestly, as long as it has a steering wheel and four wheels – not two, because motorcycles are not my thing – I’m fine. I consider the driver’s profession important and challenging. Because you’re responsible not only for people’s safety and lives, but also for the mood they arrive at work with and the mood they return home in. A driver is also a psychologist. You need to find the right approach to everyone so that the trip leaves only a positive impression.
We Transport More Than Just Cargo
People of a special temper: in their hearts, drivers are mostly romantics, while on the road they are seasoned professionals. The motor fleets of the plants include hundreds of different vehicles. And besides freight and special-purpose machinery, there are also buses and shift transport that carry people. Here, one needs not only skill, but also a great deal of patience, because it is work with people.
The most precious “cargo” is transported every morning and evening by Valerii Duda, a bus driver at the motor transport shop of Northern Iron Ore. He brings employees from the city centre and from Zhovti Vody to the plant’s shops. During a shift, he says, he covers around 280 km. His day starts at 5:00 and ends no earlier than 22:30. Over his lifetime, he estimates, he has driven no less than a million kilometres. He is convinced that to drive a bus, one must have innate tolerance, exceptional patience, and life wisdom.
“Yes, turning the wheel is one thing, but transporting people is something entirely different. Plus, we carry the responsibility for people’s lives. I’ve been driving a bus for 26 years, and overall I’ve spent 35 years behind the wheel – and I don’t regret it. I won’t change my profession either. My father was a driver, and he taught me,” recalls Valerii Duda. “I’ve been at the plant since 1990. So much has happened over the years, but I never thought I would have to live and work during a war. It’s hard: there are many problems now, many challenges… Like people in other professions, we overcome them as best we can. Many of our colleagues are on the frontline; we work and support the state and the army for their sake and for the future. Because we all need victory.”
