The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS) is an association of transportation agencies dedicated to ensuring the safety of winter maintenance products through structured testing and evaluation. The group established procedures for testing deicing and anti-icing chemicals and maintains specifications that these products must meet to be considered for widespread use. PNS has become a nationally recognized leader in establishing and standardizing chemical products for snow and ice control.
The specifications developed by PNS help guide transportation agencies around the country in the selection of chemical products for winter maintenance applications. Products selected for inclusion on the PNS Qualified Product List (QPL) must meet the following criteria:
- Pass a series of tests for friction, corrosion, and chemical and toxicological properties
- Meet environmental and health standards
The Clear Roads research program now partners with PNS to coordinate ongoing materials testing, standards development, and maintenance of the PNS Qualified Product List. The Clear Roads group includes experienced winter operations professionals from 29 member states around the country. To oversee PNS testing and operations, the association accesses the foremost pioneers in deicing technology, including technical experts in the fields of chemistry, environment, maintenance operations and management. The group also includes experts in the fields of insurance law and claims, public affairs and purchasing. Refer to the Contact page for the specific individuals involved in PNS.
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.