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Why an Oregon trucking executive broke ranks to lobby for a cap-and-trade emissions bill

Titan Freight Systems president says regulation is necessary to accelerate transition to clean fuel vehicles.

Image: Titan Freight Systems

The Oregon Trucking Association opposes a state cap-and-trade bill to limit emissions from polluting industries. But Keith Wilson, the president of Titan Freight Systems, says regulation is necessary to accelerate the transition to clean fuel vehicles.

Keith Wilson is an outlier. In an industry that generally eschews regulatory solutions to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, the president of Portland-based Titan Freight Systems is lobbying for a state bill that would put a price on carbon, likely raising fuel costs by around 15 cents per gallon.

The bill is hugely controversial in Oregon, where more than 1,000 people last week joined a trucking convoy and rally in the state capital protesting the climate legislation. 

Wilson, by contrast, spoke at a rally earlier this week sponsored by an Oregon business group that advocates for climate change legislation.


FreightWaves talked to Wilson about why he supports the bill, the trucking industry’s general aversion to change and how society devalues carbon by giving it away for free. (Interview excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.)

FW: How does a cap-and-trade system fit into the Titan business model?

K.W.: We use technology as an enabler, a differentiator, which really leads to electric trucks and how we can lower the cost of ownership of this equipment.

Here’s an example: A few years ago our accident rate started to spike. Our damage costs tripled. So we added an AI camera safety system in January of last year. When the driver picks up the phone and starts texting, the AI sends an alert with a video and then lowers their safety score. We pay bonuses based on safety score, so the drivers never pick up phones anymore. 


The result was zero accidents last year. So we need to get the word out to society that all these fatalities can be addressed.

We need to do the same with cap and trade. Technology is not something that our industry has generally grasped as a cutting-edge, first-mover approach. We’re still using this 100-year-old technology when we really need to change our core approach.

FW: Why is industry reluctant to embrace a new approach?

KW: In our business we try to hold on to old tech and old ways, not recognizing that something’s got to change. If there is not a cost to carbon, they’re not going to value it. Every time you give something away for free it’s abused. Right now we allow companies to emit carbon for free and so it’s abused.

FW: What about the argument that private-sector innovation will solve the greenhouse gas emissions problem without intervention from government?

KW: The issue is electric trucks will be extremely expensive. When this legislation takes effect in 2022, the equipment might be $200,000 per unit. My industry will say, “Why do I want to go from a $120K unit to $200K unit?” But if we can get cap-and-trade credits, if we can get public-private partnerships and move that truck from $200K down to $150K and my total cost of ownership can be within 18 months, they’ll do the math. They’ll start shifting over. 

FW: The bill’s opponents say the hike in fuel prices will make it difficult to stay in business.


K.W.: Look, it will be like 15 cents per gallon of diesel. Fuel represents 10% of my overall expenses, so if I have a 3% increase in fuel and it only represents 10% of a line item, it’s not enough to be that alarmed with. It’s immaterial. And our customers have committed to helping us. 

FW: Have you always been open to the idea of pricing carbon?

K.W.: We’ve always been open to the idea of trying to reduce carbon as much as we can. It’s one of our six critical vision items. In the last decade, our goal was to get to 7.5 miles per gallon. We didn’t meet that goal. We got to 7.2. All the changes we tried to do to the trucks, all the money we spent, and we barely moved the miles per gallon. 

So we see cap and trade as that opportunity to stop measuring miles per gallon and start measuring in carbon reduction. Because when we measure our environmental stewardship in miles per gallon, it understands that we use fossil fuel. We’re trying to change that.

FW: Your stance puts you at odds with the Oregon Trucking Association, which opposes the bill.

K.W.: Jana Jarvis [OTA’s executive director] knows we have to address climate change. Her concern is there are no applications today. It’s the usual chicken or egg. They say: Electric trucks are years away. I say no, it’s not. I’ve visited the CARB pilot projects in California, and we’re within a year of having an application. 

FW: On the topic of climate change, how do you change hearts and minds?

K.W.: Forty percent of the population still believes climate change is a hoax or due to natural causes. Or they just don’t know about it. Our industry, they’re good people. They are very caring and I respect their opinions. But it takes time to change people.

We have to value carbon. Once you value it, my industry is so resourceful, so smart, so hard-working, I guarantee they will find a way to reduce it.

31 Comments

  1. Tim Vander Pol

    First in defense of Keith. I have talked with Keith a number of times and he does run a real trucking company that our company competes with. I have enjoyed my conversations with Keith and think he is an intelligent competitor.

    That being said I disagree with him on this issue. I drive a hybrid to work and I am not unconscious of the environment. We need to recognize that although our trucks burn diesel they also do so more cleanly than in the past, but that clean burning technology came at a cost of MPG. Since the DEF technology has matured we are starting to see MPG gains again. I don’t think that either a carbon tax or electric vehicles will be the answer. Where are we going to get all the additional electricity for our society to all run electric vehicles. I don’t think I have heard of any new hydro or nuclear plants planned and Solar and Wind are not a consistent power sources (I have Solar on my house). What is going to happen to all those giant batteries when they die? What is the environmental impact of their production and disposal? What about an extended power outage or natural disasters don’t you want your trucks to continue running?

    When will environmental champions start looking at the pollution caused by congestion? My hybrid gets 5 MPG better when there isn’t congestion. If there was a carbon tax that went to congestion reduction I could probably get on board, but a tax that goes to the general fund is just a tax that won’t reduce consumption any more than the sugar taxes reduce soft drink consumption. Keith mentions that the customers are on board, but I don’t think that is the case. The inflationary cost to consumers should not be underestimated. If fuel goes up $0.15 our fuel surcharge goes up ~2.5% which means the customers pay 2.5% more.

    CNG or Hydrogen (or improved diesel fuel economy) would get my vote over Electric, but none of them are ready for prime time. Oregon already has Triples, but lets get some Long combination vehicles in Washington to reduce overall emissions. All of the newer technologies have infrastructure builds that would need to be taken into account to be effective and efficient. I think that in total cost something that utilizes fuel stations or something similar will be less costly to build than a bunch of infrastructure at every possible endpoint.

  2. Troy Hutchens

    I don’t know who’s feathers he is hauling, but my fleets fuel cost ate up 18.7% of my sales in 2019. Maybe if he really trucked something he would come to his senses..

  3. LUIZ FERNANDO SPERANDIO HOLMER

    E muito bonito no papel, mas para o operador proprietário como vai ficar, você vai dar empregos para todos eles. Não tem como aguentar isso se você só tem um caminhão para trabalhar e sustentar sua família. Isso é uma utopia esse cara e louco de pedra.

  4. John

    Try telling that to the people in South America about that carbon stuff also try doing it in other countries also you’ve got a lot to learn about driving a truck it takes a certain skill and practice over the years you must have a certain technique to be a very good driver and stick to it obviously the new drivers that you’re putting in these trucks today aren’t good enough being taught by rookies that’s a lot of information to ponder on again I emphasise is tried to pass that bill in another country and see what they say probably lock you up smile matter fact they don’t care about no emission problems and they pay less for fuel then Americans overseas

  5. Jason

    Cap and trade could help the industry if it was not fill with special interest lobbyists. If real credit was given for using natural gas, biodiesel, hydrogen, propane, electric and low sulfur diesel. It could help simplify and extend the life of trucks. But lately most environmental protection just seem to be a money-making scheme. But cap-and-trade is working well in the fishing industry and could promote environmental responsible production.

  6. Michael t dobbyn

    This guy is a real dumbass an needs to drive a truck himself. His accident problem is probably his own doing by his hiring practices an new drivers. I just love how you guys find the biggest dopes to interview.

  7. Ted Wright

    This guy sounds like a shill for the railroad who is if you look deep enough behind most of the anti truck regulations. And since the rail is subsidized the tax payer is paying to put trucking out of business. Well guess what people the train can’t come to your front door and there isn’t enough land available to cities to support the needed container yards that will be needed to support electric trucks with an effective range of about 1.5 hrs.

    1. Denise

      Let’s see…this guy toured the electric Freightliner company in Ca last year.

      He’s running for Portland city counsel. I’m guessing this is a political stunt and he’s going to walk away with some R&D trucks for getting Oregon to pass this so there is a huge demand for the vehicles they are building.

      Just a hunch, hope I’m wrong.

    2. Chuck

      You are correct, he runs a ‘trucking company’ that is a total joke! He buys used trucks and trailers that are ready for the scrap yard, paints them and thinks he’s got something. His driver turn around is top of the list, in one door out the other. Drivers are trash, management is superior, a real jerk! And obviously an idiot as well.

Comments are closed.

Linda Baker, Senior Environment and Technology Reporter

Linda Baker is a FreightWaves senior reporter based in Portland, Oregon. Her beat includes autonomous vehicles, the startup scene, clean trucking, and emissions regulations. Please send tips and story ideas to [email protected].