“My package says it was delivered to Frist … Will I get it in three days? Four days?” In November 2023, columnist Davis Hobley called for a more transparent mail and package service. The answer to his question? Based on our analysis, less than 13 hours on average.
The 100-level of Frist Campus Center is constantly filled with students traversing the 16 rows of package lockers to grab their newest impulse buy or family-made care package. Each week, around 3,500 packages are processed by the Print and Mail Services. The University attempts to make packages available to students within 24 hours of receipt, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.
The start of the school year consists of a significant increase in packages shipped to the University, be it forgotten dorm necessities or books. In the past, this traffic has attracted complaints, but this fall, the University committed to a 48-hour processing time during these high-volume weeks. This high-volume period has ended, so The Daily Princetonian set out to determine the shipping and processing times of the Mail and Package Services during down times. In mid-November, we tracked six packages and received emails informing us our packages had arrived in almost a quarter of this time.
To track package shipping times, the ‘Prince’ shipped Apple AirTags through both the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and UPS from their Princeton depots. The six packages we shipped were sent through each service’s cheapest option from the local Princeton locations.
We diligently refreshed the Find My application to follow packages on their journey to processing facilities throughout New Jersey, where they often stayed overnight. UPS packages were sent first to a facility in Trenton, where they stayed for around two and a half hours. USPS packages were sent to a facility about 2.5 miles south of the University in Princeton and remained there for an average of 24 hours.
Before getting to Frist, all packages and letters stayed in Princeton’s Administrative Package and Mail location on the Forrestal Campus from anywhere between two hours to overnight. USPS packages spent the least amount of time there. According to a Package and Mail Services flier in Frist, the use of this off-campus site enables better security and prevents the congestion of mail vehicles on campus.
While students may not know exactly what happens to their packages before they get a notification, they will notice short processing times, especially after students settle in for the semester. Sofia Clark ’28 told the ‘Prince’ that she often uses Princeton’s Mail and Package services and has been generally satisfied with the process.
“I have my family send me things,” she said. “I’ve only had one instance where the waiting time was longer than a day.”
The University processes about 155,000 student packages each year, according to Morrill. Just under one third of those packages arrive during September and October. There is another peak in early February after students return for the spring semester. Package volume decreases significantly in January, as well as in June and July, when students are off campus.
Students are generally understanding that the volume of packages shipped to the University that may affect wait times.
“It honestly isn’t too bad,” Jorge Vasquez Suarez ’28 told the ‘Prince.’ “It usually takes one to two days for Frist to process my items, and I genuinely don’t mind the wait.“
For packages we sent, we received an email from the Package and Mail Service notifying us of our package in a locker approximately four hours after a UPS package arrived on main campus with the longest wait time being eight hours. For USPS packages, this time was shorter as the email notification arrived approximately one hour after the package reached Frist. Morrill said most packages are retrieved by students within 18 hours of an email notification.
The ‘Prince’ also mailed two letters with AirTags in the envelope, which took the longest time to get to the University and were first processed in a USPS facility in Princeton then again in Trenton. For non-First-Class letter mail, the Mail service does not notify students when they receive a letter, and they are expected to go to the office in person to inquire about their mailboxes.
All mail and packages can be picked up in Frist Campus Center. Oversized packages and letter mail can be picked up in the mail room in Frist 110 open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. For quickest receipt of Amazon packages, students can ship packages to the Nassau Street 7-Eleven to utilize their Amazon-locker service.
Iman Monfopa Kone is a contributing Data writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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