CNN —The countdown to Christmas is on, but the threat of delayed packages could dampen the holiday spirit. Winter storms, out-of-stock items, ground shipping risks and a host of other issues could spell out shipping slowdowns in the days leading up to Christmas Eve. More than half of Americans say they are worried about deliveries being delayed this holiday season, according to a study in October by Badcredit.org. Companies have also been steeling themselves for a busier-than-usual holiday season. E-commerce giant Amazon said in October that it would hire 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers to prepare for the volume of shipping.

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Persons: Badcredit.org, Karen Tomaszewski Hill Organizations: CNN, UPS, Companies, National Retail Federation, Air, FedEx Locations: Alaska, Hawaii