New Amazon Lockers Aim to Reduce Mailroom Lines at Marist

New Amazon lockers outside of Tom and Mary Ward Hall. Photo by Ava Battinelli '26

Marist University has introduced two new sets of Amazon Lockers on campus, providing students with a faster and more convenient way to collect their packages.  This addition is anticipated to help ease congestion in the campus mailroom and improve package distribution during peak delivery seasons like Halloween and the holidays.

“We decided to install Amazon lockers for a few reasons,” explained Clint Gannon, manager at the Mail & Package Solution Center. “Package volume continues to increase substantially each year; last year alone, we received well over 125,000 packages. During peak periods, our operations can become strained, leading to long lines and processing delays. The lockers will help ease this pressure by handling a small number of deliveries and expediting package distribution to students during high-demand times.”

The first set of lockers, located at Ward Hall, became available for students on Oct. 23, while the second set was installed near Marketplace starting on Oct. 30. The lockers allow for 24/7 accessibility, giving students more flexibility to pick up their packages on their own schedule.

Matt Eastman ‘26 has started using the lockers located on the North End of campus. “I really enjoy the convenience of the lockers on campus. Once I see I get a delivery, I can go to the lockers and pick it up immediately without having to wait for the post office to process my package.”

Although the lockers have only been operational for a few weeks, the mailroom is expecting to see benefits soon. 

“Because the lockers have only been available for a couple of weeks, we haven’t noticed much of a difference yet,” Gannon added. “The Amazon drivers have been slowly getting more for the lockers each day. I expect the locker traffic to be much higher once the Spring semester starts and the Marist community becomes educated that they are available for use.”

Each locker unit can hold approximately 40 packages at a time, meaning that with both locations, the system has a capacity for about 80 packages. This can help substantially reduce mailroom congestion as students become more familiar with the lockers. 

“While we do our best to keep lines down, during peak times, we can struggle to keep up with the surge in mail and packages, so we are hoping the lockers will alleviate some of these issues,” Gannon said.

There are a few limitations to what students can get delivered to the Amazon lockers. Packages must weigh less than 10 pounds and have dimensions smaller than 16x12x14, be valued under $5,000, and be sold/fulfilled by Amazon. Students will have three days to pick up their package from the locker before it is returned to Amazon.

As the lockers slowly become integrated into campus life, the mailroom is keeping an eye on their effectiveness.

“We will be monitoring the traffic of when and how often the lockers are being used,” said Gannon. “If there is continued demand and a need for additional lockers, we will certainly explore adding more to current locations or new locations entirely.”