Karen Rasmussen’s interest in trucking and truck safety started when she served as Director of Public Relations for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She moved to California in early 1984 and was soon recruited to join the staff of the California Trucking Association (CTA). In her 13 years at CTA she oversaw CTA’s communications, safety programs, governmental affairs and environmental issues, rising to the position of Vice President.
Karen left CTA in 1997 to become Director of Governmental Relations for Ryder System, Inc. and was based in Wash. D.C. In 2001, she was recruited to become President & CEO of Arizona Trucking Association a position she held for more than 11 years. Under her leadership, ATA formed its 501c3 Foundation and began receiving grants to support its safety education programs.
In 2012, Karen was recruited to became President & CEO of what is now PrePass Safety Alliance, the owner of the PrePass weigh station bypass system. In late 2019, she was asked to become a founding Board member of the Independent Carrier Safety Association (ICSA) and became its Executive Director in June 2020 following her retirement from PrePass.
Throughout her 40+ years in trucking, Karen has served on numerous trucking boards, freight planning committees, trucking technology groups and more. She served two stints on ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC) and was chair of the RAC for three years. Karen also served on the Board of Directors of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) for six years.
She currently serves on the Safety Advisory Board for Aurora Tech, a leading developer of autonomous trucks; on the Advisory Committee to BlueWire, the startup whose goal is to help trucking companies better defend themselves against litigation; and on the Independent Contractors Committee of American Trucking Associations. Karen has won numerous awards and honors, but the one she is most proud of is the Halladay Award presented by the Trucking Associations Executive Council (TAEC) for outstanding service to state trucking associations.