TORONTO, Ont. — The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) wants to know how you feel about disputing administrative monetary penalty system (AMPS) fines online.

The province is looking at developing an online traffic court of sorts, which would allow individuals or carriers to deal with traffic-related provincial and municipal fines online.

The OTA is one of several stakeholders being consulted by the province and it wants to know whether carriers feel an online system would be effective, and whether it could maintain the principles of procedural fairness, including the right to be heard before an unbiased decision-maker.

“From OTA’s perspective, the question for owners of commercial vehicles is whether the movement to an online system would be of benefit or would serve as a hindrance to their ability to dispute Municipal or Highway Traffic Act offences,” the OTA said in a release.

It is inviting carriers to consider the issue and to present their case before the Ministry of the Attorney General at OTA offices Apr. 7 from 10 a.m. till noon. This will be followed by a meeting with MTO staff to provide a briefing on Bill 31 (Making Ontario’s Roads Safer). Bill 31, if passed, contains a number of measures that impact the trucking industry that may be of interest to carriers. You can register for the meetings here. If you can’t make it, view a list of questions and provide feedback here. Or, read more about the issue here.