Learn More about Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS)

The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters (PNS) is an association of transportation agencies dedicated to ensuring the safety, effectiveness, and responsible use of winter maintenance products. Through a structured, science-based testing and evaluation process, PNS helps agencies make informed decisions about the chemicals and materials used to keep roadways safe during winter weather events. The group established formal procedures for testing deicing and anti-icing chemicals and maintains clear specifications that products must meet to be considered for widespread public-sector use. As a result of this rigorous approach, PNS has become a nationally recognized leader in establishing and standardizing chemical products for snow and ice control.

The specifications developed by PNS serve as a trusted resource for transportation agencies across the United States and beyond. These standards help agencies select products that balance roadway safety, infrastructure protection, environmental responsibility, and cost efficiency. Products selected for inclusion on the PNS Qualified Product List (QPL) must undergo comprehensive evaluation and meet strict criteria, including:

• Passing a series of laboratory and field tests related to friction performance, corrosion impacts, and chemical and toxicological properties
• Demonstrating compliance with environmental and public health standards
• Showing consistent performance under winter maintenance conditions

By relying on the QPL, agencies reduce risk, improve consistency in procurement, and ensure that products used on roadways have been independently evaluated against uniform benchmarks.

Download PNS Brochure

Mission

The mission of PNS is to “strive to serve the traveling public by evaluating and establishing specifications for products used in winter maintenance that emphasize safety, environmental preservation, infrastructure protection, cost-effectiveness and performance.” This mission reflects the organization’s commitment to protecting both the public and the long-term integrity of transportation systems, while also supporting the professionals responsible for maintaining them under challenging winter conditions.

Our Partner: Clear Roads

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.

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.