Farzeen Orakzai, owner of Cal Postal in Escondido, urges gift givers to ship before Black Monday, her term for the busiest shipping day of the year, which this year falls on Dec. 15.

“After Black Monday … it’s harder for shippers to deliver packages,” Orakzai said.

United Parcel Service spokeswoman Stephani Oller said the company usually ships 15 million packages per day worldwide. Last year, on the company’s busiest shipping day, Dec. 19, it shipped 22 million packages, she said.

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