TollBoothGuy
5 Years Experience
Brooklyn, NY
Male, 33
I spent just short of five years as a toll collector on the western end of New York State. Ask me anything, but please don't pay me in pennies.
I'll be honest, I'm not sure if anyone can be held liable in that situation. Usually when any kind of incident happens out on the road, drivers can request to make a report to whatever law enforcement agency has jurisdiction. Personally, I'd never instruct a car to back up out of a lane unless absolutely necessary and I would physically get out of my booth and back everyone up so that this kind of situation has as little chance of happening as possible. Sorry to hear about the damages to your vehicle.
Share Answer: 
We classify vehicles based on height and axles on the ground. Anything below 7'6" is classified a 'low' and anything above 7'6" is a 'high'. So an average car is classified as a 2L while an average tractor trailer is classified as a 5H. Luckily, we don't have to take weight or commercial status into consideration when classifying. I know that a different system was in place preceding my arrival and that it had been become somewhat complicated, so this system was installed in an effort to simply the process. (Something about noting the number of passengers on buses, etc...)
Share Answer: 
Nope! In our system, collectors are audited based on what they their expected cash total is versus what they deposited. A deficit that small would not be flagged for review. Through the course of a shift, collectors are often shorted by some amount of change by a number of cars and conversely sometimes cars drop too much in our hands and drive off. Oddly enough it generally evens out well enough. There were a couple times where I got shorted a bit and threw a dollar or two in my tray because I never made it back.
Don't sweat a penny though. Trust me, we ALWAYS have pennies laying around.
Share Answer: 
I took no extra security precautions while I was out on the road. I never felt particularly unsafe, even during solo shifts.
Share Answer: 
Firefighter
What's the worst you've been burned in a fire?
Birthday Party Clown
What's the meanest thing a kid ever said to you during a party?
Toll Collector
What happens when a car blows past a tollbooth without paying?
Those lots are reserved for employees and other authorized individuals and are not to be used by the general public. If you have to stop off for a second that's generally okay, but you would not be able to park your vehicle there for any significant length of time.
Share Answer: 
My system did accept $100 bills. The only caveat is that we took the license plate numbers of cars that paid with anything larger than a 20. We linked the plate number to the bill and sent in a form as part of the audit.
Share Answer: 
As with any other job that deals with money, shortages are a huge deal. If your drawer does not match the expected total to the negative side(past a certain threshold) the issue is flagged at the time of bank deposit. A manger meets with a collector to go over the shift in question to try and identify the reason for the shortage. By this time. the shift in question is months in the past, so it is often hard to recall the day in question. Reasons for shortages typically include giving out the wrong amount of change, misclassification of vehicles, and unfortunately, theft.
I went through this once and it is not a pleasant experience. In my case, a direct cause for the shortage could be not identified but was most likely included giving incorrect change, likely for a large bill.
I was also put on a re-training track once for deposit slip errors. You see, when you make a deposit at the end of your shift the paperwork that goes with the money must match the money in the bag exactly, both in total money deposited and exact totals of each denomination. That's 100s, 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s, 1s, dollar coins, half-dollar coins, quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies, Canadian currency. If there is any discrepency between what is in the bag and the paperwork the deposit is flagged. This applies even if the amount deposited by the collector is 100% correct. If a certain percentage of your monthly deposits come back with errors, you are flagged for re-training. Multiple months of over-the-threshold deposit errors can lead to increased disciplinary action, leading all the way up to termination. Luckily, I only hit the threshold once.
Share Answer: 
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
