Consultants

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

   The Stifel Transportation and Logistics Research Group wrote Thursday it appears nearshoring in Mexico is taking hold, judging from discussion at the Nearshoring Mexico Summit held last week in Dallas by Armstrong and Associates.    “We heard of the northbound load imbalance from several presenters,” Stifel wrote in a note to investors. “Most agreed that it falls in range throughout the year (depending on seasonality) of two northbound loads for every southbound load to four northb...

Monday, June 17, 2013

   April's $0.06 uptick in east-west air freight rates evaporated in May, as the average rate per kilogram finished the month at $3.15, the same price as in March, according to Drewry's East-West Air Freight Price Index. Year-over-year, May's result represented a $0.10 drop in the price of air cargo.    The price index takes 21 trade lanes and averages them together, coming up with a weighted index and an average price for a kilogram of cargo.    The high point for freight i...

Monday, June 17, 2013

   The U.K. consulting and research firm Transport Intelligence (Ti) said the global contract logistics market grew 3.4 percent by value in 2012, but warned that growth hides “increasing divergence in the performance of regional markets.”    Ti’s latest report Global Contract Logistics 2013 , found growth in emerging markets is much higher than those in Europe or North America. The Middle East market grew at 5.7 percent, while the Asian contract logistics market grew at 6 percen...

Monday, June 17, 2013

   The shipping consultants Drewry are predicting that the westbound cargo growth in the Mediterranean-North America trade "is likely to remain poor, so more schedules between the Mediterranean and ECNA (East Coast North America) will need to be rationalized soon. Operating services in isolation, such Hapag-Lloyd’s MGX schedule, and MSC’s loops A and B, appears to be a luxury that is no longer affordable."    The London-based company said in its Container Insight Weekly publication t...

Friday, June 14, 2013

   U.S. exporters are focusing their ire on the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT), Mexico’s tax agency for what they see as an increasing number of costly, time-consuming NAFTA audits and re-audits by the agency.    These exporters say the current Mexican government had promised to streamline the audit process.     “NAFTA rules of origin in this industry are very complex and require review of multiple levels of processing, which usually occurs at different com...

Monday, June 10, 2013

   Cargo volumes moving from North America to North Europe picked up in the first quarter, but are “unsustainable due to the austerity measures being taken by most European governments,” according to an article in the current edition of Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly .    Drewry said exports from North America to North Europe improved significantly in the first quarter, with “average monthly cargo flow reaching 176,000 TEUs, up by 14 percent compared to the previous quarter, or 5 ...

Friday, May 31, 2013

   Air freight and express wholesaler AMI has promoted Darren Zieba to the newly-created position of global information technology project manager.    Zieba will be based at AMI’s Chicago office and assumes responsibility for several major system projects, such as MyAMI and the global rollout of AMI’s online product Click2Ship. He will also head AMI’s central IT development team, based at its London headquarters.    He has worked in aviation and air cargo IT for over 15 year...

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

   Third-party logistics providers will see 2013 revenues of $148.4 million, an increase of 4.6 percent, according to a recently released report by Armstrong & Associates.    Revenues of third-party logistics providers in the United States increased by 6 percent, year over year, in 2012 to $141.8 billion.    According to Armstrong & Associates, the compound annual growth rate for the 3PL industry fell by 0.3 percent from 1996 to 2012. The company expects this d...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   Average global freight rates have fallen to a 15-month low, according to Drewry’s new online Container Freight Rate Insight which launched today.    Drewry said its global freight rate index fell 12 percent in April to reach its lowest level since February 2012, when container shipping was still recovering from the last ocean carrier price war. The index, which is a weighted average of freight rates across the 600 trade routes covered by Drewry’s Container Freight Rate Insight, rea...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   Governments in Belize, Central America and the Dominican Republic should create an environment that embraces an integrated, intermodal sea-land network, according to a recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).    A stronger supply-chain network would help push global trade forward and would also encourage trade exchanges between the countries in the region.    The two authors of the study, Amar Ramudhin and Don Ratliff, posit that a number of initiative...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   Rickmers Holding GmbH & Cie. KG, the parent of the Rickmers Group of shipping companies, intends to issue corporate bonds of up to 200 million euros ($258 million).    The Hamburg-based shipping company is looking to expand its containership chartering business in the face of declining interest by many traditional banks in the shipping industry and the collapse of the "KG" system of limited partnerships in Germany that were used to finance many ships in the past.   &...

Monday, May 13, 2013

   Three-fourths of global logistics companies are unable to get the prices they deserve for their services, according to the findings of the Global Pricing Study 2012 , conducted by strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners.    The causes, managers say, are a price-aggressive competitive environment and a prevalence of standardized products. The study incorporated responses from 151 people in the transportation and logistics sectors throughout Europe, Asia, North...

Thursday, May 09, 2013

   The U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration has released a Spanish language version of its Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters .    The guide was created specifically to help U.S. small and midsized businesses overcome one of their major export challenges, how to get paid from export sales, thereby helping turn their export opportunities into actual sales, the department said.    “Since the publication of its first edition in 20...

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

   Container carriers might actually be better off if freight rates crashed suddenly rather than gradually erode for months, contends SeaIntel Maritime Analysis.    In the current issue of its SeaIntel Sunday Spotlight , the firm analyzed the prospects for carriers' profitability in 2013 seen in the light of current rate declines.    “This leads to the, somewhat counter-intuitive, conclusion that carriers should potentially lower rates drastically in order to become pro...

Friday, May 03, 2013

   U.S. freight volume fell by 3.5 percent and freight expenditures dropped by 1.6 percent in April on a month-to-month basis, according to the Cass Freight Index Report .    Compared to April 2012, shipments were down by 1.3 percent, and expenditures declined by 0.5 percent. While both shipments and expenditures have fallen below the same-month levels from last year, shipment activity is even lower than in April 2011.     According to the report, the declines in activ...

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Allegretti    The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a trade organization for the U.S. shipping industry, said Thomas Allegretti has been elected as its new chairman.    Allegretti is president and chief executive officer of the American Waterways Operators, a trade group for the tug and barge industry.    He succeeds James Henry, chairman and president of the Transportation Institute, who will serve as AMP’s vice chairman.    “It is an honor to serve ...

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

   The information service Alphaliner says spot freight rates from China to Europe have crashed.    "Spot freight rates from China to Europe are currently offered at $700-$800 per TEU, compared to $1,300-$1,400 per TEU at the beginning of the year," it noted in its weekly newsletter .    Alphaliner said 20 new ships of between 8,500 and 16,000 TEUs will be introduced into the Far East-North Europe trade in the second quarter, in addition to seven new units that were ad...

Monday, April 29, 2013

   Massive changes to the U.S. export control regime are beginning to be made by the Obama administration, but the automatic budget cuts that kicked in March 1 are limiting the Bureau of Industry and Security's ability to educate shippers about the new rules and how to follow them, Eric Hirschhorn, undersecretary for industry and security at the Department of Commerce, said.    Speaking last week during a webinar produced by American Shipper, the head of BIS said the agency has ...

Monday, April 29, 2013

   Cargo theft in North America stayed flat, year over year, in 2012 as European theft rates rose by 24 percent, according to FreightWatch International.    Cargo theft in Asia also increased.    According to the company, however, the greatest theft threats still exist in Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Last year, about 6,800 thefts were reported in Sao Paulo, and more than 6,000 Mexican thefts occurred in 2012.    Pharmaceutical thefts are on the rise in Europe, ...

Thursday, April 25, 2013

   The debate over reform of U.S. food-aid programs heated up yesterday with a leading organization of U.S.-flag shipowners saying a proposal by the  Obama administration to allow more purchasing of food abroad and eliminating requirements that it be carried on U.S. merchant ships would “dismantle an effective tool of American diplomacy.”    James L. Henry, chairman of USA Maritime, said in a statement “so-called food aid reformers point to U.S. ocean carriers as the primary exam...

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

   Pacer International/Ocean World Lines has appointed Al Benki to senior vice president of international logistics in the United States and Europe.    He formerly served as the company’s senior vice president of international logistics for Asia and Europe.    Taking Benki’s place in Asia is Danny Yang, who will serve as managing director for Asia.    Benson Chua has become Pacer International/OWL’s managing director in China, while Andrew Luk continues to manage t...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

   Asia-Pacific e-commerce growth could be limited by the region’s logistics capabilities, according to a new report by Transport Intelligence.    The report, Asia Pacific e-commerce Logistics 2013 , points out that the region is the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market and has the potential to become the largest market for e-commerce sales in the next few years, with 33 percent expansion in the e-commerce logistics market in 2012.    “This is a region that has long be...

Monday, April 22, 2013

   Drewry said ocean carriers are planning to add 12 percent more vessel capacity to the Asia-East Coast North America (ECNA) trade by May despite lack of cargo growth.     "It seems like suicide, but new cargo sources may be envisaged,” the Londobn-based consultancy said.    Drewry estimated that in March carriers operating between Asia and ECNA were operating at only 67 percent utilization eastbound, and 56 percent westbound.    In the latest...

Monday, April 22, 2013

   Air freight rates out of Asia continue to be somewhat volatile, dropping from $3.32 per kilo in February to $3.15 per kilo last month, according to the latest Drewry East-West Air Freight Price Index.    The March decline in rates comes after two months of steady increases. September was the last time the freight rate average hit $3.15, but if last summer is any indication of rates in 2013, pricing will continue to fall. In June and July of last year, rates came in at $3.12 per kil...

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

   Pat Cooney has recently joined third party logistics firm UTi Worldwide as the new regional vice president for sales and marketing in the Asia-Pacific region.    Prior to joining UTi, Cooney was vice president of sales and marketing for PACCESS, a provider of packaging design and Asia-focused supply chain solutions. He has also held senior management roles at CEVA Logistics (formerly EGL) during the past 20 years.    Transport Systems Catapult has appointed Steve Yianni a...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

   Drewry, the London-based shipping consultant, said transpacific carriers are “still in self-destruct mode,” writing in the latest issue of its Container Insight Weekly publication, that “efforts to increase eastbound freight rates by ocean carriers operating between Asia and West Coast North America (WCNA) remain ineffectual with new services planned rather than laying up unwanted vessel capacity.”    Between March and October, Drewry said carriers managed to keep overall eastboun...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

   Information technology is still predominantly conducted outside of the cloud in Australia, according to research by the global analyst firm Ovum.    A recent survey of 63 chief information officers in Australia found that three-quarters of IT activities were provided by in-house IT departments.    “It is always difficult to assess the true rate of cloud services adoption – and to sift fact from fantasy,” said Steve Hodgkinson, research director for Ovum’s Asia-Pacifi...

Friday, April 12, 2013

   The London-based shipping consultancy Drewry said "With over 40 ships of at least 10,000 TEUs due for delivery in 2013, carriers will find it increasingly difficult to manage capacity without upsetting the fragile supply-demand balance. Carriers are asking themselves where they can put these vessels without flooding the market."    Drewry said liner carriers "managed the influx of new vessels pretty well in 2012, with a small reduction of 1.6 percent in operational headhaul capaci...

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

   The top port analyst at London-based consultancy Drewry said Monday a deal announced last week in which the liner carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. will sell a 35-percent stake in its terminals business to the New York-based private equity group Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) makes sense for both sides.    The deal, worth $1.9 billion, gives GIP a sizable share in MSC’s Terminal Investment Ltd. (TIL) business.    “I think the deal makes good sense for both parties...

Thursday, April 04, 2013

   Importers, exporters and other members of the trade community can expect continuity at U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the wake of the retirement of Commissioner David V. Aguilar on Sunday, Allen Gina, assistant commissioner for international trade, said Wednesday in a Webcast to members of the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) at their annual conference in Rhode Island.    Deputy Commissioner Thomas S. Winkowski has become the acting commissioner, a...

Thursday, March 28, 2013

   The maritime consultant Dynamar this week released a new report detailing the intra-Northern Europe container trade, including a breakdown of the 160 services on the trade.    The intra-Northern European trade includes 40 different carriers deploying container, roll-on/roll-off and multipurpose ships with container capacities of 100 to 3,400 TEUs.    The report finds Unifeeder provides the most ships in the trade, but Mediterranean Shipping Co. s...

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

   The financial restructuring firm AlixPartners has been appointed by Taiwan bulk shipping carrier Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) to manage the company’s restructuring and turnaround.     Reuters reported in the fall that TMT defaulted on payments for 12 bulk cargo ships from Hyundai shipyards and had to cut its fleet in half since the financial crisis in 2008.    According to a statement Tuesday, AlixPartners is already working with TMT’s senior management and will meet with ...

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

   In May, Florida Coastal School of Law will start a number of programs in logistics and transportation law, including a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree, as well as graduate certificates for lawyers and non-lawyers interested in transportation law.    The programs are offered online and can be completed on the student’s schedule any time. The first term for all programs starts May 6.    “Our goal is to train ‘solution brokers,’ well-rounded transportation and logistics profes...

Thursday, March 21, 2013

   The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) said last October’s Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged the U.S. Northeast, has shown the network’s strength, as well a highlighted areas for improvement.    “A particular strength of ALAN’s network is that its members tend to be problem solvers,” said ALAN President Jock Menzies, in a statement. “Supply chain management, by its very nature, requires working with others and finding the best and most efficient alternatives. These traits are ext...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

   With an eye to recent political upheaval in Egypt, the latest edition of Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly contains a detailed analysis of what might happen to the container shipping industry if the Suez Canal closed.    “If the Suez Canal were to be suddenly closed tomorrow, container vessel schedules between Asia and Europe would be immediately adjusted to minimize delays by increasing round-trip speed to an average of approximately 22 knots. The disruption would, in most cases,...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

   The supply chain consultant and logistics services provider Spinnaker has hired Mike O’Donnell as vice president of sales.    O’Donnell will be responsible for expanding Spinnaker’s client base and infrastructure in existing and new markets, along with driving strategic initiatives for the company’s warehouse and distribution services.    He has 25 years of experience in third-party supply chain services, including design, strategy, marketing, sales and operations, and ha...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

   The American Society of Civil Engineers has given the nation’s infrastructure a "D+" and estimated the necessary infrastructure investment will reach $3.6 trillion by 2020.    While the organization ranked the current state of the nation’s bridges and rail both at "C+" and gave U.S. ports at a "C," roads and aviation infrastructure were both given Ds.    In the organization’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, released every four years, modal infrastructure i...

Monday, March 18, 2013

   The Port of Oakland’s commissioners approved the hiring of Amy Tharpe to Social Responsibility Division director and Ron Puccinelli to chief technology officer.    Both Tharpe and Puccinelli start their positions with the Northern California port authority at the beginning of April.    “I look forward to working with our two new team members to continue the port's transition to a new era of transparency, accountability, and innovative public sector leadership,” said Port ...

Friday, March 15, 2013

   Miami, Chicago and Memphis are home to airports offering the best investment and leasing potential, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s U.S. Airport Real Estate Index.    Chicago and Miami, in particular, are rated well due to their status as international passenger gateways, and Memphis finished third on the list due to FedEx’s hub presence at the airport.    The index also focused on facilities that have efficient perishable operations, because these goods offer...

Monday, March 11, 2013

   Drewry, the London-based maritime research and consulting company, said nearly 150 sailings by container carriers were cancelled on the transpacific and Asia-Europe routes between October 2012 and this February, and that "uncertain cargo growth to Europe and the U.S. will encourage ocean carriers to continue with short-term vessel capacity planning, which means more sailing cancellations to come    " The problem will be exacerbated as service upgrades enforced by newbuild deliveri...

Thursday, March 07, 2013

   Freight shipments rose by 0.5 percent, year over year, and increased by 5.6 percent when compared to January, according to the Cass Freight Index.    January’s numbers showed a 4.8 percent, month-to-month drop.    Expenditures fell by 1 percent when compared to February 2012, but rose by 1.8 percent from January.    These increases reversed a downward spiral that had spanned four months, but that doesn’t mean volatility is over for any of the modes. The report ...

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

   The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has named eight new industry members to sit on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee, including two experts from the air cargo sector.    The 13th COAC convenes today in Washington for the first meeting of its new term.    COAC provides policy-making advice about commercial operations to the secretaries of DHS and Treasury, but primarily works with U.S. Customs and Border Protection within DHS.    DHS ad...

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

   The Denmark-based consultant SeaIntel Maritime Analysis said Wednesday it has opened a new office in Hong Kong.    The office will be managed by SeaIntel senior consultant Thorsten Boeck.    “SeaIntel has seen a growing need for experience-based and thorough analysis and consultancy services in the container shipping industry in the past couple of years,” the company said. “Boeck will be available to assist SeaIntel clients in Hong Kong as well as globally.”    ...

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

   Air freight demand remained stagnant from June 2010 to the end of 2012 and has not achieved net growth since 2007.    According to Air Cargo Management Group’s Air Freight and Express Performance Analysis 2013 , which covers the international market, there will be few signs of market growth this year.    The industry did take in $96 million in 2011, a record revenue that rose by 8 percent when compared to 2010. ACMG, however, noted this increase came from fuel surcharges...

Monday, February 25, 2013

   Lars Jensen, chief executive officer of the Danish maritime research firm SeaIntel , said his firm expects 48 super-post-Panamax vessels to enter Asia-Europe trade in 2013, and for some existing vessels in that trade to cascade into the transpacific.    SeaIntel's most recent Sunday Spotlight newsletter takes a look at those deliveries on a detailed week-by-week basis.    "If the carriers maintain the current service pattern, and neither launch nor remove any services, i...

Friday, February 22, 2013

   January’s bump in the air cargo market came simply because of the ramp up to the Chinese New Year, and those in the air cargo industry should expect a much more muted 2013, participants learned during the 28th annual BB&T transportation services conference in Coral Gables, Fla.    The conference, held from February 12-14, covered the air freight and surface prospects and challenges for 2013.    Shippers, carriers and other transportation specialists in attendance anti...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

   Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s controversial proposal to scrap the state gas tax in favor of a dedicated hike in the sales tax has the legislature on the verge of passing a transportation funding bill for the first time in more than a dozen years.    Reports from the state capitol in Richmond Wednesday indicated both House and Senate negotiators had agreed on a compromise that involved replacing the gas tax with a 3.5 percent tax on wholesale gasoline, raising the sales tax 0.3 perc...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

   USA Maritime, a coalition of U.S.-flag carriers and labor unions, has expressed concern over possible changes to the federal government food aid programs, an important source of employment for U.S.-flag ships and seafarers.    "USA Maritime is deeply disappointed to learn that the Obama administration is considering the elimination of our flagship international food donation programs, Food for Peace (P.L. 480) and Food for Progress," said James L. Henry, chairm...

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

   Container handling volumes are growing at their slowest rates since 2009, based on throughput data at the 25 largest ports, collected by the information service Alphaliner .    In its most recent newsletter, Alphaliner said weak demand in Europe and the United States resulted in volumes growing by 4 percent in 2012 compared to 8.7 percent in 2011 and 15.5 percent in 2010.    The company said 11 of the top 25 ports are located in China, seven in other Far East countr...

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

   Jeffrey N. Shane, well-known transportation attorney and former official at the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been appointed general counsel for the International Air Transport Association, effective April 2.    He will be based at IATA’s headquarters in Montreal.    Shane has been a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells since 2008. Prior to that he served in the Bush administration as the undersecretary of transportation for policy from 2003-2008. In his role, S...

Friday, February 08, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cancelled the Trade Support Network's plenary session scheduled for Feb. 26-28 in Baltimore, according to an e-mail from the ACE Business Office to TSN members.    No reason for the cancellation was given in the message and there was no mention of alternative dates in the future, but a spokeswoman said the agency had difficulty securing a venue.    The TSN is a group of about 300 trade compliance professionals divided into ...

Thursday, February 07, 2013

   According to ACT Research, January truck orders reached 22,600 units, making last month the fourth consecutive month where net tractor orders in the United States topped 20,000.    January’s number showed growth when compared to December, but fell 25.4 percent, year over year.    Trailer orders have grown faster than truck orders since September. Even with these somewhat positive numbers, analysts at BB&T Capital Markets predict production rates will be dow...

Thursday, February 07, 2013

   Containership operators are doing a better job of keeping ships and containers on schedule, says London-based Drewry, which has just published its latest quarterly Container Performance Insight report.    Containership reliability reached a new record high in the fourth quarter of 2012 with the percentage of on-time ship arrivals across all trades increasing to 79.9 percent, a rise of 6.4 percentage points on the third quarter performance.    The new ship reliability rec...

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

   The Asia Pacific region’s logistics industry continues to develop at a fast rate despite the economic weakness of its two largest trade partners, Europe and the United States, according to a report by the U.K.-based consultancy Transport Intelligence (Ti).    The report, Asia Pacific Transport & Logistics 2013 , suggests that shifting trade lanes, the growth of the ASEAN community and intra-regional trade have prompted a transformation of the region’s logistics market and sign...

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

   In its recently released 2012 Urban Mobility Report , researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found traffic congestion cost truck drivers $27 billion in 2011.    The total cost of congestion for all transport totaled $121 billion, a $1 billion rise over the previous year. The small increase from 2010 belies a more alarming trend. In 2000, traffic congestion cost $94 billion, and 31 years ago, the total only reached $24 billion. Researchers predict that the total c...

Friday, February 01, 2013

   The World Economic Forum (WEF), as part of a report released last week on the benefits of reducing supply chain barriers , is criticizing maritime cabotage laws, particularly those in the United States and China.    The U.S. cabotage law, namely the Jones Act, requires that vessels transporting goods or passengers between two points in the United States or engaging in certain activities in U.S. waters must be U.S.-owned, U.S.-built, and U.S.-crewed.    “Though ...

Thursday, January 31, 2013

   Classification society ABS has formed an operational and environmental performance department.    “The shipping industry continues to deal with a weak and challenging market. Vessels and assets have to be designed and operated to achieve optimal performance throughout their entire life cycle,” said ABS President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher J. Wiernicki, in a statement.    “ABS recognizes that designers, builders, owners and operators in the marine and of...

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

   Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Tuesday that he is resigning his post, but will stay on the job until a successor is confirmed.    LaHood is a Republican and former congressman from Illinois who joined Democrat President Barack Obama’s administration almost four years ago.     "I've told President Obama, and I've told many of you, this is the best job I've ever had," LaHood said in an e-mail to Department of Transportation employees that was posted...

Monday, January 28, 2013

   Manuel Ernesto Ortiz-Barraza, an independent financial consultant, was extradited to the United States from Mexico Friday for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Export-Import Bank of over $2.5 million, according to the U.S. Justice Department.    Ortiz-Barraza, 56, was charged in an indictment unsealed on Oct. 19, 2011, in the Western District of Texas with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud fo...

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

   Cargo security firm Freightwatch International said a suspect hijacked a last-mile courier load of pharmaceutical products at gunpoint outside of a pharmacy in Detroit on Monday morning.    The load was being monitored by a FreightWatch covert GPS tracking device as well as an on-person panic device that was with the driver.    During the hijacking, the thief took the panic device before the driver was able to activate it and commandeered the courier van contai...