Testing of AutoSock Under Way in Colorado
This story appears in the March 23 print edition of Transport Topics.
Transportation officials in Colorado said initial feedback from commercial drivers who have used the AutoSock, a heavy-duty cloth covering for tires, has been positive, and it could become an accepted alternative to metal snow chains.
Colorado is the first state in the United States to test the AutoSock, which can be used on tires in place of the more traditional chains. Made for trucks and cars, it was invented by AutoSock AS in Oslo, Norway.
“We’re just seeing how it’s performing and talking with the trucking industry,” said Bob Wilson, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Transportation. “The information we’ve received so far is that they like it as an alternative to the chains.”
After limited testing last winter, CDOT put the AutoSock on what it calls “probationary approval” this winter, which allowed truckers to use it as an alternative traction device whenever the state issued chain-up orders.
Wilson said CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol will decide later this spring if the sock should get permanent approval as an alternative to chains.
Wilson said the device is already used in Europe and British Columbia. It slips like a hairnet over the drive-wheel tires and is made of a specially designed, high-friction polyester material that is a fraction of snow chains’ weight.
The light weight is a critical safety factor, said Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. The weight helps cut the time it takes to put on the sock, compared with the time it takes to put on chains, Fulton said.
“When talking to our safety experts and insurance folks, a big part [of safety] is lowering your accident exposure,” said Fulton. “The AutoSock can be applied within four to five minutes on the wheels.”
Chains can take 20 to 40 minutes to install, depending on the skill and strength of the truck driver, Fulton said.
Several years ago in Colorado, he said, in one 18-month stretch, two truckers died in separate incidents while putting chains on their rigs.
“The most important element to us from the outset was safety,” Fulton said of the AutoSock.
So far, trucking companies that have purchased the sock for their trucks are providing positive feedback about it, he said.
The next step, Fulton said, is to get other states such as California, Oregon and Washington — which like Colorado have strict snow-chain specifications — to test the AutoSock.
He estimated that 2,000 AutoSock sets are being tested on trucks in Colorado this year.
According to information supplied by the maker of AutoSock on its Web site, the device was the brainchild of Norwegian inventor Bard Lotveit, who in 1999 paired with Fred Olsen and his company Invento AS to begin manufacturing the device.
The theory behind the AutoSock, which the manufacturer says is made from a high-friction material, is to increase friction on snow and ice — much like throwing a blanket or rug under tires spinning in the snow.
“Ultimately, we’re hoping it does perform effectively because that’s our ultimate goal, to keep traffic moving on our roads and highways,” CDOT’s Wilson said.
