Kitten Keeps Trapped Climber Alive in Mountain Blizzard SMALL HEARTBEAT, BIG RESCUE
Mountain Rescue Service, told The Associated Press. “He saved his life.”
Asked if he was okay, Benga says that Duda told his rescuers, “I’m happy because my cat is alive. I got a chance from God for a new life. The happiest moment is because the cat is here with me.” Although climbing out of the ravine took more than five hours, Duda held Peach close to his chest the entire way. Forced to turn the kitten over to rescue workers when he was placed in an ambulance, Duda begged them, “Please take care of the cat.” When Duda was rescued, he was one of roughly 160 Ukrainian men saved while crossing the mountains to avoid the draft. Sixteen others died trying. The rescue was “like a dream, after all I have been through,” Duda said. “Peach kept my heart warm, and he kept my faith alive.” Duda was treated for hypothermia at a nearby hospital. Peach was taken to a veterinary clinic nearby and, at last report, survived the ordeal in good health.
Trapped in an icy mountain ravine, soaked and nearly frozen, 28-year-old Vladislav Duda contemplated what he feared would be the last night of his life. Escape from the ravine, more than 430 yards deep, was out of the question. Suffering from fatigue as hypothermia set in, Duda believed only one thing separated him from death: the furry warmth of his months-old kitten, Peach, huddled against his chest beneath his coat. Duda, a Ukrainian journalist, had undertaken a perilous journey in late 2024 across the Carpathian Mountains into Romania to avoid being drafted to fight
in Ukraine’s war against Russia. Four days earlier, he had run out of food for his cat and himself, and they were surviving on icy water from melted snow. Rescue workers from a regional mountain team had tried to reach Duda by helicopter, but hazardous blizzard conditions forced them to turn back. Instead, more than a dozen ground workers battled through deep snow in 14-degree temperatures into the ravine. When they finally reached Duda, they opened his coat and found the tiny orange tabby kitten curled against Duda’s chest. “The cat was warm, and was warming him,” Dan Benga, director of the Maramures
THE HIDDEN COSTS OF FREIGHT TERMINAL DELAYS Time Is Money
Driving big rigs is a demanding job, taking a toll on a person’s health and home life. Mounting delays at freight loading and unloading terminals are making those stresses worse. The delays drivers face at shipping and receiving facilities are a mounting problem, with “widespread negative consequences” for carriers, drivers, shippers, and the economy as a whole, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), a nonprofit research group. The most recent ATRI survey of more than 1,900 truck drivers and motor carriers a few years ago showed a 40% increase in drivers reporting mounting delays in pickups and deliveries. Drivers in the survey blamed customers for the holdups, especially dock employees whom they described as slow, unmotivated, or taking too many breaks. Among other complaints, drivers said they sometimes arrived for a
and regulatory changes, such as customs rules requiring closer inspection of certain shipments. These problems hit truck drivers right in the paycheck. Federal hours-of-service limits prevent them from making up for the delays by driving longer hours. Delays also disrupt the entire supply chain, resulting in missed deliveries, customer dissatisfaction, and fines against the carrier. California’s sheer size and highway safety laws already pose big obstacles for professional drivers trying to meet delivery deadlines, including its 55-mph speed limit for trucks, vast highway distances, and frequent traffic jams. If a driver faces an unexpected 1–2 hour wait to unload a shipment, they’re often late for the next delivery, too, creating snowballing delays that damage both their on-time performance and their income.
Independent drivers and trucking companies can sometimes ease the problem by communicating proactively with customers about expected delays, scheduling pickups and drop-offs at non-peak hours, using traffic apps to avoid congestion and bad weather, and ensuring that all their documents are complete and accurate. Beyond that, industry sources say, delivering loads on time often depends on the luck of the draw.
scheduled pickup at a customer’s facility only to find their load wasn’t ready or the products were still being manufactured. Another obstacle is a tendency among customers to overbook terminal facilities, resulting in a shortage of dock space. Industry sources also blame technological problems with customers’ operating systems
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