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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Holiday shopping is well underway and many Americans will be shipping their presents nationwide just in time for Christmas.

At Total Choice Shipping in Ottumwa, employees are preparing themselves for what is their busiest time of the year.

Owner Jim Brown said there is quite an increase in December especially the last two weeks of the month.

They run about 2 ½ times their normal monthly business, shipping between 1,500 and 2,000 packages.

Brown said it is best to ship your packages sooner than later.                          

“The weather can be unpredictable and what you’ve got to understand it's not just the weather in our area and it's not just the weather say in California but if they’ve got an ice storm in Memphis where Fed Ex sorts their express packages, that's going to delay the package also. So it’s one of those things the earlier you ship, the less money it's going to cost you to get it there before Christmas and the better chance its going to have of not running into a problem before Christmas,” said Brown.