American Trucking Assoc. VP dies in rafting accident

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Mike Russell, vice-president for public affairs at the American Trucking Associations, died last week while whitewater rafting in Colorado.

The 64-year-old Russell had been at ATA since 1999, following a long career in television news and public relations. He first got the trucking bug as a truck-driving corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Russell reportedly died after falling out of the raft on a whitewater rafting trip near Idaho Springs during a family reunion. Rescuers arrived by helicopter but were unable to save Russell, reports Transport Topics’ TTNews.com.

As Traffic World put it, “Russell was known as a diligent and ardent proponent of fairness and perspective in news coverage of the trucking industry.”

Before joining ATA, Russell served as the director of public and consumer affairs for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Before that, he served three years as press secretary of the National Performance Review, Vice President Al Gore’s initiative to “reinvent government.”

He leaves his wife, Rita, their daughter Michele, and one grandchild.