Narrative:

Upon taxiing to the gate I was crossing several taxiways and trying to follow grounds hasty instructions to give way to one aircraft and go between another and make a right turn on taxiway alpha and proceed to the ramp. These were the instructions given in the ATC taxi clearance. This is a normal clearance in ewr as I have noticed in my short time in ewr. I was busy trying to focus on what exactly she wanted and in the middle of all that the first officer (first officer) was talking to ramp and I asked him if we are cleared in and he said yes. It was at this moment I noticed I had passed my entrance to ramp for my gate. However; ramp said that was fine and proceed to gate. Therefore; I made the next entrance and safely taxied to my gate line. It was at this time it gets wild. I had my taxi light on and was in the process of making my turn into the gate to line up for parking and my first officer says clear right. I initiate the turn after I look right to see if I could see anything and as the turn was initiated a small pickup truck flew passed underneath the nose. The truck was so close that I lost sight of him under me as I slammed on the brakes. I then shouted on the ramp radio to inform of what just happened and nobody seemed to care. I watched the first officer look out his window to clear the area and nothing was there he stated. The truck was moving so fast at a high rate of speed; which is an extremely dangerous action on a congested ramp; that when I noticed what was going on I could not get a truck number or a plate number. Once it was safe again I then taxied to my parking spot. It was at this time that the parking checklist was done and we learn of the jet bridge not working properly. I opened my window to talk to the gate personnel and to make sure we are on the correct parking spot. They assured me we were and that if the jetway was attached to plane we could not egress because half the door would be covered by the jetway. I then told them to see if we could be pulled up to make it work. They said they would have to ask. It was at this time the first officer brought to my attention that gas was being put onto the aircraft. He then slides his window open and started shouting for the fuel to stop and detach from the plane. This takes a minute to get him to stop as he did not understand (the fueler) what was going on. We finally got him to stop with the fueling and the jet bridge attached and finally got everyone off safely. It was at this time I asked to talk to people higher up the food chain to address what happened at the end of this flight. A better taxi clearance should have been given in such a complex airport. Airport vehicles should have proven routes and not just where they want us go when they feel like it on the ramp. Plus should have a speed limit. Also the fueler should have followed procedure to make sure the jet bridge was attached and it was safe to deliver fuel.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ERJ-170 Flight Crew reported a ground conflict with a vehicle during taxi; followed by issues with a jetbridge malfunction and fueling procedure violations.

Narrative: Upon taxiing to the gate I was crossing several taxiways and trying to follow grounds hasty instructions to give way to one aircraft and go between another and make a right turn on taxiway alpha and proceed to the ramp. These were the instructions given in the ATC taxi clearance. This is a normal clearance in EWR as I have noticed in my short time in EWR. I was busy trying to focus on what exactly she wanted and in the middle of all that the FO (First Officer) was talking to ramp and I asked him if we are cleared in and he said yes. It was at this moment I noticed I had passed my entrance to ramp for my gate. However; ramp said that was fine and proceed to gate. Therefore; I made the next entrance and safely taxied to my gate line. It was at this time it gets wild. I had my taxi light on and was in the process of making my turn into the gate to line up for parking and my FO says clear right. I initiate the turn after I look right to see if I could see anything and as the turn was initiated a small pickup truck flew passed underneath the nose. The truck was so close that I lost sight of him under me as I slammed on the brakes. I then shouted on the ramp radio to inform of what just happened and nobody seemed to care. I watched the FO look out his window to clear the area and nothing was there he stated. The truck was moving so fast at a high rate of speed; which is an extremely dangerous action on a congested ramp; that when I noticed what was going on I could not get a truck number or a plate number. Once it was safe again I then taxied to my parking spot. It was at this time that the parking checklist was done and we learn of the jet bridge not working properly. I opened my window to talk to the gate personnel and to make sure we are on the correct parking spot. They assured me we were and that if the Jetway was attached to plane we could not egress because half the door would be covered by the jetway. I then told them to see if we could be pulled up to make it work. They said they would have to ask. It was at this time the FO brought to my attention that gas was being put onto the aircraft. He then slides his window open and started shouting for the fuel to stop and detach from the plane. This takes a minute to get him to stop as he did not understand (the fueler) what was going on. We finally got him to stop with the fueling and the jet bridge attached and finally got everyone off safely. It was at this time I asked to talk to people higher up the food chain to address what happened at the end of this flight. A better taxi clearance should have been given in such a complex airport. Airport vehicles should have proven routes and not just where they want us go when they feel like it on the ramp. Plus should have a speed limit. Also the fueler should have followed procedure to make sure the jet bridge was attached and it was safe to deliver fuel.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.