Following the popular trend of the “medical perspective on life,” where roads are the arteries of the modern world and trucks are its blood cells, what happens when a “clot” or catastrophe occurs on the highway? Trucking entrepreneur Olexandr Momotok knows the answer better than most. Ten years working in the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office taught him to see the consequences of accidents, and his work as a semi-truck driver in the USA showed him how to prevent them.
Momotok’s story is one of how analyzing accidents led to life-saving innovations and why changing broken systems sometimes requires taking direct control. From the prosecutor’s office in Odesa to the highways of Illinois, he decided that road safety could not wait.
Case Materials
When people see a tractor-trailer accident on the road, few give much thought to the cause. Yet often, the key lies in the trailer’s drawbar. The drawbar, a metal beam connecting the trailer to the towing vehicle, transmits pulling force while also absorbing impact during braking or collisions. When a vehicle rear-ends the trailer, the shock travels through the drawbar to the towing vehicle, potentially causing severe damage, with the driver also at risk.
Existing solutions mitigate harm but have flaws. Spring-loaded hitches soften jolts during transit yet fail under heavy impacts, while rigid drawbar mounts offer durability without impact absorption. Momotok proposed a third way: a unique damping system. With the same meticulous scrutiny once applied to dissecting evidence and case files, Momotok examined the shortcomings of existing solutions and possible alternatives.
Two Lives in One Destiny
Momotok has lived two completely different lives. Born into a family of educators, he was the only one to pursue law, yet his parents’ teaching instincts still shaped his relentless analysis and passion for sharing knowledge.
From childhood, his father instilled a love for the English language. Momotok studied it intensively in school and university and seized every opportunity to improve his proficiency, which later became his competitive advantage. During his eight and a half years as a prosecutor in Odesa Oblast, this came in handy many times — his language skills were so refined that colleagues joked he spoke better than many native speakers.
A Turn of Fate
The pivotal shift in Momotok’s life came when he decided on a radical change, moving to the U.S. and starting from scratch. Here, the skills from his past life unexpectedly became his greatest asset. His English, honed over the years, now sounded so natural that this helped him not just adapt but immediately integrate into local life.
But Momotok’s most significant advantage was his analytical mind, sharpened by years of legal practice. He could instantly assess situations and find optimal solutions. He quickly identified potential job security options and, without hesitation, enrolled in training to become a semi-truck driver despite never having operated such vehicles before.
A New Beginning
Transitioning into an entirely new field required Momotok to retrain completely. “I had to learn from scratch,” he recalls. “Two months of intensive training at a driving school in Chicago, including two hours of theory and two and a half hours of practice daily — all in technical English.”
As Momotok notes, the distinctive feature of semi-truck driver training in the U.S. is its emphasis on accident prevention through maneuvering rather than just braking, which demands unique skills for handling large vehicles. His firsthand experience as a truck driver allowed him to study all the nuances and dangers of the profession in practice.
“Driving here is quite aggressive,” the entrepreneur shares. “Seeing the nature of accidents, I realized: if you’re hit from behind, the consequences are often fatal. That’s when I began constantly thinking about how to mitigate the impact.”
His abilities impressed even the instructors. He grasped everything instantly, demonstrating not just comprehension but genuine driver’s intuition. Soon, Momotok was working in the industry, founding his company, OM&B Trucking Inc.
Observation as the Foundation of Innovation
As the founder of his trucking company, Momotok combines the roles of business owner and driver, giving him a unique opportunity to evaluate all aspects of freight transport operations. His collaboration with major trucking firms and daily work with trailers allowed him to develop a critical perspective on existing safety systems.
On American roads, behind the wheel of a semi-truck, Momotok merged his two professional experiences, past and newly acquired. Observing local driving habits and analyzing accidents, he continually drew parallels with what he had seen in his prosecutorial work. Trained to identify cause-and-effect relationships, he quickly pinpointed a critical flaw: current safety systems are effective at preventing accidents but nearly useless when a collision is unavoidable. Particularly alarming were cases where a rear-end collision caused the truck to “fold” like scissors, a catastrophic scenario often resulting in fatalities.
“With an analytical mindset, I’m constantly evaluating what can be improved and how to refine the technology,” he explains. “It’s in my nature to seek solutions and help.” It was this approach that led him to create an innovative invention he hopes will be adopted by trucking companies across the U.S. and worldwide.
The Birth of an Invention
The solution didn’t come immediately, but after witnessing another accident, the idea transformed into a clear vision. Momotok developed an innovative shock-absorption system for trailer coupling, the critical component connecting the truck and trailer. His invention, officially named “Methodology for Reducing Impact Force in a Road Traffic Accident,” is a mechanism that doesn’t just transfer collision force but effectively dissipates it.
Inside the coupling is a specialized spring system with support sleeves. Under critical impact, a shear pin breaks, allowing the movable part of the coupling to shift, compressing the spring and absorbing up to 60% of the impact energy. This prevents the violent jolt, often leading to loss of control, rollovers, or cabin deformation. What are the system’s key advantages? Fully mechanical, electronics-free, and functional even in extreme conditions.
Beyond Business
Now officially registered in the U.S. Copyright Office, Momotok’s invention reflects his gratitude to his adopted country. “If this saves even one life, it will all have been worth it,” he says. His goal extends beyond commercial success: “I want to create safer roads for everyone.”
His development has the potential to redefine safety standards in trucking, making roads safer for all users. From practicing law in Ukraine to innovative ideas in the U.S. transportation industry, regardless of his career transformation, Momotok follows the same basic principles: observation, critical thinking, analysis, and determination to initiate and achieve change.
Continuing the “medical analogy,” these qualities can generate technologies that save lives, not only on the surgical table. Experience, persistence, the simplicity of original ideas, and a genuine desire to improve things for everyone can profoundly change an entire industry.
