Ask a Toll Collector anything

122 Questions

Last Answer on September 11, 2020

Do the toll collectors st the Lincoln tunnel have to take pennies?

Asked by Mike over 6 years ago

I don’t know, probably. You’re using pennies to pay a 15 dollar toll? I’d just take them to the bank.

961 Votes

What happens when you accidentally hit a toll arm

Asked by Male over 8 years ago

The section I worked on didn't use toll arms so I couldn't say.

960 Votes

Is there a lot of hate towards Toll Collectors in New York State? How do you deal with people offending you because of your job?

Asked by MarieAbend over 7 years ago

Can’t control how people treat you. Nobody wants to pay tolls, so I get it. Just have to figure out a way to ensure you don’t take it personally and kind of compartmentalize those unpleasant interactions. It’s not an easy adjustment and it’s not for everybody. I had no intention of making it a career and 5 years was plenty.

952 Votes

What was the longest conservation you had with a customer?

Asked by Chris over 8 years ago

Great question! Traffic typically doesn't allow for long conversations but on my section if you were covering overnight hours at small stations there would be long stretches without traffic so you could chat with people for longer. Usually if you both felt like talking you could get 3-5 minutes in if you wanted to, sometimes longer. I feel like sometimes the late night drivers could sense that we could use someone to talk to so they were generally more talkative. The transaction just feels too rushed during the daytime hours as it seems like there is ALWAYS someone behind the car you're currently processing. All that being said, I have had VERY long conversations with VERY confused drivers in the middle of the day. I've had people in my lane for 10 minutes with maps and questions and issues. So much so that I've briefly had to shut my lane down to signal to traffic that they should avoid my lane.

941 Votes

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Who collects the money made from the toll booths????????

Asked by Anthony almost 8 years ago

If you're asking who physically comes and gets the money, a service like Brinks is typically utilized.

929 Votes

What's the hardest thing about being a toll collector

Asked by Nycole over 9 years ago

I'm sure you'd get a myriad of answers from different collectors so just speaking solely for myself- the interpersonal aspect was by far the most difficult for me. Nobody is happy to see a toll collector, and toll collectors aren't particularly jazzed that they have to spend the whole day dealing with people that don't want anything to do with them. Honestly it got to the point where saying nothing was sometimes the safest option. And I can definitely understand why people might find that rude, but it was mostly self-preservation. It's just one of those jobs where finding your center is crucial because if you react to every outside stimulus, you just won't last.

913 Votes

Have you ever had a emergency where they open all the gates and cars still stop even though life is at stake because for some reason they want to pay the toll? Why do people do that crazy stuff?

Asked by Donald over 6 years ago

Can’t say I’ve ever experienced a specific situation of that nature. But generally speaking everybody reacts differently in those types of situations and you can’t really predict how things are going to go. People have an expectation of normalcy and sometimes they stick to it even when things are deviating significantly from normal.

898 Votes