Viktor Kudryashov works as a master instructor at the Pinsk State Agricultural College, where he teaches young people to drive trucks. For the past eighteen years, every summer this mentor has changed professions (fortunately, the college administration is accommodating) and helps grain farmers harvest the crops. In the team, he is known as a "thousand-ton driver," which is exactly why students strive to get into Viktor Viktorovich's group, since this is considered an honor.

"For eighteen years, I have spent seven seasons working at OAO Osnezhitskoye," the hero of the current harvest says. "This year, I worked as a transport driver and simultaneously as a combine operator's assistant. My partner is a young grain farmer, so I also taught him all the intricacies of work during the harvest season. I was always right there beside him. When he eats lunch, I do the threshing, and then we switch. And if the machinery breaks down, I stop my MAZ truck, and we repair the combine together."

Remarkably, Viktor Kudryashov made it a rule to haul grain from the new harvest only from "his own" combine, once again confirming his long-standing title of thousand-ton champion.

"If I hauled grain from all the combines, I would break all records! My truck is small, not like the others—giants with large cargo capacity. It's easier for them: they drive up, collect the harvest from three or four combines, and go. But I have to make four trips to transport the same amount of threshed grain," the experienced driver says.

The year 2026 will go down in Viktor Kudryashov's work biography as a year of absolute record. Previously, he managed to reach the mark of 100 or 105 tons of grain per work shift, but in the current season, the record figure reached 130 tons. That's 16 trips in a single day! The frontline worker has his own explanation for this: the field was close—just one kilometer from the farm—and the harvest turned out to be bountiful. And, of course, the weather that day was favorable and the machinery did not let him down.

Additionally, Viktor Kudryashov noticed that if you modernize certain things in the vehicle, it greatly increases labor productivity. And so he begins tinkering with his MAZ a whole month before the harvest.

– Productivity depends on many little things, – Viktor Viktorovich believes. – I fully foamed the body, extended its sides so that after unloading grain from one combine hopper there is still room left in the compartment – as a result, the grain does not spill out on a bumpy road. I also installed an additional ladder on the body so I could quickly roll up the tarp. To avoid getting out of the truck unnecessarily, I installed an electric valve on the rear board: press the button – and pop! – the board opens. You unload the grain, and only then get out and close it. You save five minutes here, five minutes there – and in the end you get a tremendous saving of time over the day.

In the cab of the MAZ, Viktor Kudryashov always keeps a cooler bag within reach, where drinks stay cool and food doesn't spoil during the hot season. "I have music, a fan, and an air conditioner in the cab," the driver boasts with an engineer's ingenuity. – Besides, I upgraded the lights: I installed two sets of additional headlights, and mounted a video camera at the rear of the truck so I can see when pulling up to the granaries. Let me put it this way: I modify any vehicle, whether it's a work one or my own, to suit myself, so that the work is convenient and, most importantly, everything is done well."

Other drivers always examine the improved model of the MAZ truck with interest, as Viktor Viktorovich says, but they are in no hurry to adopt his experience – they only praise and marvel: "And who would have thought to go to all that trouble!"

For Viktor Kudryashov, being among the front-runners is already a familiar thing. There has not been a single year when he was not honored with awards at the regional or district level.

– I remember, before the army I spent two years harvesting grain on a "Niva" with my father. It was hellish work! Back then I swore: I will never work in the field again. Two dozen years passed – and I had to go back. Working became many times more comfortable; the equipment is different now. If people ask me whether I will go to the harvest, I always answer: I will! I plan to keep going until I have twenty years of harvesting experience – at the very least, – smiles the leading driver.

Yulia SKRIPNIK,

photo by the author