The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS)

The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS) is a group of Pacific Northwest state transportation agencies dedicated to conducting a biennial winter maintenance conference. The intent of the conference is to bring winter maintenance research to the Pacific Northwest in order to share knowledge about best practices, materials, innovations, current research results, and to network with peers.

History of the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters

The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS) was created by state transportation departments from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana as well as Canada. The group was committed to improving winter maintenance practices and ensuring the best use of deicing products. They did this by conducting deicer product research and hosting a snow and ice conference on a regular basis to share best practices and news from around the globe. Another area in which the PNS sought to share best practices was in the purchasing of materials that are effective deicers and also protective of the environment. The PNS created the Qualified Products List (QPL) to review, test, and approve products used by the Pacific Northwest states. Over time, more agencies began using the QPL to ensure they too were purchasing environmentally responsible products.

The PNS partnered with Clear Roads, a national winter maintenance research consortium focused on rigorous testing of winter maintenance materials, equipment and methods for use by highway maintenance crews, to jointly fund and operate the QPL. By 2018, the interest in the QPL had outgrown its prior regional focus and it was decided that Clear Roads would take ownership of the QPL.

Visit Clear Roads QPL for more information.