Ask a Toll Collector anything

122 Questions

Last Answer on September 11, 2020

I'm appalled to hear that someone asked you "Is this what you're going to do for the rest of your life?" How did you respond to that? If you didn't tell him off, you're a better person than most.

Asked by Myra about 14 years ago

At the time he asked I think it was around 2-3 in the morning and I wasn't particularly interested in getting into it with him. I think I muttered a 'yup', gave him his change and turned away. It stung. People find themselves in places for a myriad of reasons and to have that guy bring my entire life to judgement at that moment hurt.

1289 Votes

Have you ever seen a co-worker just absolutely lose his shit mid-shift and explode on a driver or pull a walk-out? Gotta think it's not dissimilar from disgruntled postal workers.

Asked by johnno85 about 14 years ago

I will say this about the people I worked with and are still out there to this day- they exercise incredible restraint. If you ever wonder why collectors aren't very talkative, I suspect this may be the reason. It's one of those jobs that the less you say sometimes, the better. I didn't personally witness anything catastrophic but there was a guy I worked with who flipped off a customer. I remember hearing a story about a guy who freaked out, locked up all his money at a small station and left. Not exactly sure how that one panned out but I think he kept his job for some time after that incident. People have definitely walked out on the job, though. I've heard of people going on their first break and just taking off.

1289 Votes

When I worked for the federal government, I had a paygrade class, a GS-3. I was wondering if municipal employees in NYC also have that kind of numbering system, and if so, what number/grade a toll collector would have?

Asked by Jane almost 14 years ago

I actually can't speak to collectors here in New York City as I worked in the Western part of the state and they are part of a different agency. I took a look at the civil service listing in 2010, which I believe was the last time the test was offered, and the salary grade is listed as 'Equated to G-9.' I'm not too versed in that part of the job though, as I was a part-timer for the five years that I was there.

1283 Votes

Did you ever see drivers get into physical altercations with one another if someone was holding up the line?

Asked by Rikitime about 14 years ago

Thankfully, no. I occasionally had people get out of their cars and approach the booth to see what the heck was going on, though. Some even offered to pay the toll of the person holding up the line.

1282 Votes

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Has anyone ever exhibited some total random act of kindness with you when you were in the booth? Maybe during the holidays, a driver who gave you a tip or a cookie or a cupcake or something like that?

Asked by Hutcher about 14 years ago

Sure! I actually was offered snacks from cars with some frequency. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of very decent people out there and as long as it was sealed up or I felt okay about how it looked, I usually took it. Probably the best random act of kindness I encountered was from an older lady who gave me a twenty for her toll. She told me that she didn't want any of her change back, and to let the next people go on her. The look on the next few drivers' faces was priceless. I enjoyed it too, because toll collectors rarely get to give good news! One guy missed out though because he was in a big rush and just dropped his money into my hands and sped off without a word. Never hurts to say hello...

1274 Votes

Did you ever witness an out-of-control driver or high-speed chase where someone crashed right through the toll gate, like in the movies?

Asked by miles and miles over 13 years ago

We actually don't employ gates in our system so that wasn't a possibility but people did speed through our lanes with some regularity. Sometimes we got them to stop, sometimes we didn't. Nothing too exciting though, sorry to disappoint! I did once witness a (most likely) drunk driver stop, open her car door, and promptly drop from the seat to the pavement. Drunk drivers are scary.

1269 Votes

I once heard that cops could issue speeding tickets WITHOUT actually clocking someone on a radar gun if the car made it from one toll booth to another faster than would have been possible without speeding. Do you know anything about that?

Asked by burnsM about 14 years ago

Boy, I've never heard of that. In our system, tickets were stamped with entry and exit times so I guess the information could be available but I'm not sure if I see that holding up in court.

1267 Votes

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Toll Collector

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I'm appalled to hear that someone asked you "Is this what you're going to do for the rest of your life?" How did you respond to that? If you didn't tell him off, you're a better person than most.

Have you ever seen a co-worker just absolutely lose his shit mid-shift and explode on a driver or pull a walk-out? Gotta think it's not dissimilar from disgruntled postal workers.

When I worked for the federal government, I had a paygrade class, a GS-3. I was wondering if municipal employees in NYC also have that kind of numbering system, and if so, what number/grade a toll collector would have?

Did you ever see drivers get into physical altercations with one another if someone was holding up the line?

Also on Jobstr...

Has anyone ever exhibited some total random act of kindness with you when you were in the booth? Maybe during the holidays, a driver who gave you a tip or a cookie or a cupcake or something like that?

Did you ever witness an out-of-control driver or high-speed chase where someone crashed right through the toll gate, like in the movies?

I once heard that cops could issue speeding tickets WITHOUT actually clocking someone on a radar gun if the car made it from one toll booth to another faster than would have been possible without speeding. Do you know anything about that?

Toll Collector

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I'm appalled to hear that someone asked you "Is this what you're going to do for the rest of your life?" How did you respond to that? If you didn't tell him off, you're a better person than most.

Have you ever seen a co-worker just absolutely lose his shit mid-shift and explode on a driver or pull a walk-out? Gotta think it's not dissimilar from disgruntled postal workers.

When I worked for the federal government, I had a paygrade class, a GS-3. I was wondering if municipal employees in NYC also have that kind of numbering system, and if so, what number/grade a toll collector would have?

Did you ever see drivers get into physical altercations with one another if someone was holding up the line?

Also on Jobstr...

Has anyone ever exhibited some total random act of kindness with you when you were in the booth? Maybe during the holidays, a driver who gave you a tip or a cookie or a cupcake or something like that?

Did you ever witness an out-of-control driver or high-speed chase where someone crashed right through the toll gate, like in the movies?

I once heard that cops could issue speeding tickets WITHOUT actually clocking someone on a radar gun if the car made it from one toll booth to another faster than would have been possible without speeding. Do you know anything about that?

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