# Jesus Fucking Christ. A NJ toll collector can earn $31.58 an hour?!?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412 "2011-02-24T03:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/41 "2011-02-24T12:32:23Z")
I would seriously like to know how much, exactly, **Rumor\_Watkins** thinks toll collectors \*should \*be paid. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/42 "2011-02-24T12:56:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Sorry, do you get paid holidays when being paid by the hour in the US? It isn’t the case in Spain, either you get paid by the month and your salary and total working hours are set yearly, or you get paid by the hour/day and then don’t get paid except for those hours/days you’ve actually worked/been at work. Some hourly jobs have paid vacations and holidays. Union and government hourly jobs nearly always include paid holidays and vacation. They really function almost as being paid by the week , except in the case of overtime or unpaid leave. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/43 "2011-02-24T12:56:11Z")
I’d like to see a NJ toll-booth operator job listing. Here is NJ’s on-line jobs listings: [NJCSC - Job Announcements](http://info.csc.state.nj.us/Vats/JobView.aspx) and the Turnpike website: [NJCSC - Job Announcements](http://info.csc.state.nj.us/Vats/JobView.aspx) I can’t find a listing for toll booth collector. I think $32.00 an hour is probably too high for a non-skilled, entry level job with low hazards, but would be fine if this were the pay earned by a long term employee who had risen up through the ranks. (The nurses aids at my hospital are capped at $10.00/hr, tops- too low.) What does the management make? I suppose cost-of-living in the area plays a role as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/44 "2011-02-24T13:00:02Z")
I am a Tennessee State employee, of 15 years. I get paid like a private sector janitor. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/45 "2011-02-24T13:21:46Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I know bus drivers in NYC can pull in 55K, 60K a year too. When I heard this, I felt some resentment and asked myself why I was even bothering to go to school. But then I realized that being a bus driver is hard. Imagine sitting all day long, driving the same loop eleventy-billion times a day, every day. Dealing with crazy passengers and confronting fare jumpers. Trying to navigate NYC traffic without killing anyone. Trying to stay awake. > > Yes, my job is hard too. It’s mentally challenging and stressful sometimes. But I’m not stuck to my desk–if I decide to take a walk to stretch my legs, no one is going to say anything. I can talk on the phone whenever I want as well, listen to my mp3 player all day long, and dress how I want to (within reason). Lives do depend on me doing my job well, but it’s a tenuous connection. I also can set my own schedule, decide what I’m going to work on (within limits), and not have to clock in and out every time I come and go. I can even work at home sometimes. You can’t attach a dollar value to some benefits. Sometimes you just have to count your lucky stars you have a job and forget about people who, deservedly or not, make more money than you do. Exactly how I feel, and perfectly said. Thanks. Off to work now! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/46 "2011-02-24T13:40:07Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I would seriously like to know how much, exactly, **Rumor\_Watkins** thinks toll collectors \*should \*be paid. How about whatever the lowest wage you can pay out while retaining adequate staff, like 99% of other jobs? I find the rush of people in this thread to defend this bullshit perplexing. This sounds like about the least skilled job you could have in a state, yet you make more than people like teachers and cops? Look, people work fast food or work a cash register or do a thousand other things for under $10/hr. If those jobs can be filled, then there’s no way that a fucking tollbooth operator couldn’t be filled for half or less of that $31 rate. Saying “oh it’s a shitty job” is no justification - a whole vast majority of jobs are shitty. This isn’t exceptionally shitty nor exceptionally dangerous, it is not skilled at all, anyone can do it - there’s simply no justification for having it pay 3x+ more than equivelant jobs. So the existance of such a job isn’t actual value to the state or market forces, but the influence of legislation, governmental bloat, and unions. As a rule I’m not generally anti-union, but this is exactly the sort of shit that makes people hate unions (at least public sector ones) and shouldn’t be propped up as appropriate. IIRC, the whole reason this bullshit racket started in the first place was that originally they roads were intended only to be tolled for a few years to recoup their cost, but by this time the workers were entrenched, unionized, political connected, etc. so it essentially became a bullshit jobs program on the taxpayer’s dime. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/47 "2011-02-24T13:57:45Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > How about whatever the lowest wage you can pay out while retaining adequate staff, like 99% of other jobs? > > I find the rush of people in this thread to defend this bullshit perplexing. This sounds like about the least skilled job you could have in a state, yet you make more than people like teachers and cops? > > Look, people work fast food or work a cash register or do a thousand other things for under $10/hr. If those jobs can be filled, then there’s no way that a fucking tollbooth operator couldn’t be filled for half or less of that $31 rate. Saying “oh it’s a shitty job” is no justification - a whole vast majority of jobs are shitty. This isn’t exceptionally shitty nor exceptionally dangerous, it is not skilled at all, anyone can do it - there’s simply no justification for having it pay 3x+ more than equivelant jobs. > > So the existance of such a job isn’t actual value to the state or market forces, but the influence of legislation, governmental bloat, and unions. As a rule I’m not generally anti-union, but this is exactly the sort of shit that makes people hate unions (at least public sector ones) and shouldn’t be propped up as appropriate. IIRC, the whole reason this bullshit racket started in the first place was that originally they roads were intended only to be tolled for a few years to recoup their cost, but by this time the workers were entrenched, unionized, political connected, etc. so it essentially became a bullshit jobs program on the taxpayer’s dime. PA State employee here, but I think I can get on board with most of this. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/48 "2011-02-24T14:01:36Z")
I wonder what the job requirements are. Sit, fetch, be rude. Anything else? ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/49 "2011-02-24T14:02:31Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > yes, which coupled with presumably strong union protections as to job tenure, would ensure that all of them would be given the opportunity to max out their hourly wage. Just to be clear, your reasoning is this: If there is a union, then the union includes protections like job tenure. If there are job tenure protections, then everyone has the opportunity to get to the top of the wage chart. You had earlier responded to a question about how many employees make it to the max by saying “probably all of them.” You’re conflating possibility with certainty. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/50 "2011-02-24T14:27:48Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It also seems that folks are comparing their own cost of living with the NJ COL. In most of the areas along that road $60,000 gets you a small cramped 1 bedroom apt. This is patently false and probably only true in Hudson county, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/51 "2011-02-24T14:33:37Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > How about whatever the lowest wage you can pay out while retaining adequate staff, like 99% of other jobs?.. golf clap. and this handily answers why I’m not leaping at the chance to get the $30 an hour gig - there ain’t no way I can get this job unless you know someone who knows someone. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/52 "2011-02-24T14:35:36Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > IIRC, the whole reason this bullshit racket started in the first place was that originally they roads were intended only to be tolled for a few years to recoup their cost, but by this time the workers were entrenched, unionized, political connected, etc. so it essentially became a bullshit jobs program on the taxpayer’s dime. It’s the last bit of this I don’t agree with. I highly doubt that any states continued with toll roads because they’d have to fire the toll booth operators. It’s a cash cow, a toll booth can rake in hundreds of dollars an hour, even $30 an hour in labor nets a big net positive for the state. These jobs are on the way out anyway, with EZ pass entrenched, you only need a few operators, even on the most busy roads. Places have also tried out license plate tolls, where you don’t even need an ez-pass, they just photograph your plate and send you a bill. Between these two technologies, it won’t be long until there are no toll booth operators anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/53 "2011-02-24T14:38:32Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I can’t find a listing for toll booth collector. > > I think $32.00 an hour is probably too high for a non-skilled, entry level job with low hazards, but would be fine if this were the pay earned by a long term employee who had risen up through the ranks. (The nurses aids at my hospital are capped at $10.00/hr, tops- too low.) > > What does the management make? > > I suppose cost-of-living in the area plays a role as well. You can’t find it because it’s a cronyism/neposism job, in all likelihood (like most union jobs - and I sincerely hope I’m not coming across as biased when I say “crony”, I’m using it in the actual meaning of the word, without emotional content). Also, to be fair, it seems as if they are in a hiring freeze as a result of the latest round of union/mgmt negotiations - they were removing 100 positions by attrition and re-assignment (not sure what that means), so they presumably aren’t hiring. I don’t know how you rise up through the ranks of toll collectordom. It’s the same job on day 1 as it is on day 10,001 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/54 "2011-02-24T14:40:37Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I wonder what the job requirements are. Sit, fetch, be rude. Anything else? It sounds high, especially if you’re earning less, especially for something more skilled or strenuous, but I don’t really want the man or woman by the button that lets me move on with my life to be any angrier than necessary. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/55 "2011-02-24T14:44:16Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > \*\*You can’t find it because it’s a cronyism/neposism job, in all likelihood (like most union jobs - and I sincerely hope I’m not coming across as biased when I say “crony”, I’m using it in the actual meaning of the word, without emotional content). \*\*Also, to be fair, it seems as if they are in a hiring freeze as a result of the latest round of union/mgmt negotiations - they were removing 100 positions by attrition and re-assignment (not sure what that means), so they presumably aren’t hiring. > > I don’t know how you rise up through the ranks of toll collectordom. It’s the same job on day 1 as it is on day 10,001 To be fair, the bolded part depends entirely on whether or not the job is a civil service position or not. I’m not sure how other states do it, but the civil service here LOVES interviewing based on examinations. Case and point: I’m a clerk typist at my current building. The job I’d like to have requires a college education and successfully passing the examination. Great. The problem is that my score has always been a few points too low when they do a new classroom. The fact that I already work here means absolutely nothing when hiring for the higher position. tl;dr - Not all union state jobs are based on cronyism. In fact, I wager quite a few aren’t at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/56 "2011-02-24T14:46:11Z")
Thank God we have all these Republicans and Right-wingers looking out for the working man, where the theory seems to be: don’t pay people well to do shitty jobs; pay them shit, just don’t tax them. Chrissakes, I live in Portland, ME, hardly a hot-bed of overpriced living. I make close to the top teir listed in the OP and I’m barely keeping my head above water. How well do you think $60k goes in New York/New Jersey, especially if you have a family to feed. On the other hand, that CEO who rakes in the million dollar bonus after the lay-offs and the bail-out money? Totally legitimate. Free market, donchknow? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/57 "2011-02-24T14:50:09Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > On the other hand, that CEO who rakes in the million dollar bonus after the lay-offs and the bail-out money? Totally legitimate. Free market, donchknow? Instead of justifying this as a fraction of CEO salary, justify it as a multiple of a McDonald’s worker salary. Do you feel that McDonald’s workers should also be paid $31/hr, or do you think what toll booth operators do is worth several times as much? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/58 "2011-02-24T14:52:21Z")
> [@elninost0rm](#): > > To be fair, the bolded part depends entirely on whether or not the job is a civil service position or not. > > I’m not sure how other states do it, but the civil service here LOVES interviewing based on examinations. Case and point: I’m a clerk typist at my current building. The job I’d like to have requires a college education and successfully passing the examination. Great. The problem is that my score has always been a few points too low when they do a new classroom. The fact that I already work here means absolutely nothing when hiring for the higher position. > > tl;dr - Not all union state jobs are based on cronyism. In fact, I wager quite a few aren’t at all. the job is manifestly unskilled. the job (probably) has 0 educational requirements other than cursory things like “HS diploma”. how else can you separate the wheat from the chaff when making hiring decisions? you can’t. which opens the door to nepotism. and, I’m not going to presume to know what goes on in your jurisdiction, but I’m pretty sure people who are connected get their applications put at the top of the pile, regardless of test scores. Frankly, I always thought the way they did it was they had a numerical cut off (below which you were plain ineligible) and then they ranked the scores, but once you were above the cut off extrinsic factors could be utilized in making a hiring decision? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/59 "2011-02-24T14:53:59Z")
I’m going with: if you think it’s such a great deal, at least try to land the job. If it turns out that you’ve got to know the right people to get the job, THEN you’ve got a point. At any rate, it seems like a silly thing to argue over. As more and more even occasional turnpike users sign up for EZ Pass, there will be fewer and fewer toll collectors. There really isn’t much money to be saved here in the long run by adjusting their salary scale; the money’s in not needing to hire any new toll collectors as the old ones retire. It’s like arguing over what typewriter repairmen should make. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412/60 "2011-02-24T14:53:59Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Instead of justifying this as a fraction of CEO salary, justify it as a multiple of a McDonald’s worker salary. Do you feel that McDonald’s workers should also be paid $31/hr, or do you think what toll booth operators do is worth several times as much? exactly. not to mention that since everyone pays the tolls, continuing to charge toll rates to support $30 an hour workers will regressively impact other wage workers who are driving on said turnpike to get to their $8 an hour job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-fucking-christ-a-nj-toll-collector-can-earn-31-58-an-hour/572412.md?page=4)