By:  Barrientos                                  S.R. No. 498
    1-1                           SENATE RESOLUTION
    1-2        WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is proud to
    1-3  recognize Ted Eubanks and Pete Ashabranner for beginning the
    1-4  first alternative-fuel, for-hire Texas trucking service; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, The company, Fermata, is the state's only
    1-6  alternative-fuel, for-hire trucking service and is an intrastate
    1-7  delivery service using trucks fueled by natural gas; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, The company is in the process of converting its 200
    1-9  trucks, five at a time, to run on natural gas and will be using
   1-10  them to transport documents, lab specimens, and other small parcels
   1-11  between all points in Texas; and
   1-12        WHEREAS, Though converting the trucks is an expensive
   1-13  project, natural gas is a cheaper fuel and burns cleaner, lowering
   1-14  maintenance costs; engines are also supposed to last two to three
   1-15  times longer and will lower operating costs for the company with
   1-16  fewer oil and spark plug changes; and
   1-17        WHEREAS, By transporting with natural gas-fueled trucks,
   1-18  Ted Eubanks, the truck company's owner, and Pete Ashabranner,
   1-19  chief operating officer for Fermata, are taking significant
   1-20  steps to help improve our environment; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act is requiring companies to reduce
   1-22  their air pollutants, and it is hoped that there will be an increase
   1-23  in the number of companies that use natural gas for-hire vehicles in
    2-1  order to meet the act's emission standards; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, Innovative and uncommonly resourceful, Ted Eubanks
    2-3  and Pete Ashabranner have used their entrepreneurial talents to
    2-4  orchestrate a new form of service in the trucking industry that
    2-5  is ecologically advantageous to our state; and
    2-6        WHEREAS, Considering the growing need for pollution reduction
    2-7  throughout the United States, the efforts of Ted Eubanks and
    2-8  Pete Ashabranner are truly exemplary and deserving of legislative
    2-9  recognition; now, therefore, be it
   2-10        RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
   2-11  73rd Legislature, hereby commend Ted Eubanks and Pete Ashabranner
   2-12  for their enterprising project with the use of alternative fuel
   2-13  and extend best wishes to them for continued success; and, be it
   2-14  further
   2-15        RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be prepared for them
   2-16  as an expression of esteem from the Texas Senate.
   2-17                                 _____________________________________
   2-18                                        President of the Senate
   2-19                                      I hereby certify that the
   2-20                                 above Resolution was adopted by
   2-21                                 the Senate on March 24, 1993.
   2-22                                 _____________________________________
   2-23                                        Secretary of the Senate
   2-24                                 _____________________________________
   2-25                                         Member, Texas Senate