Today’s newsletter was written by the WSJ Logistics Report’s Jennifer Smith.

United Parcel Service Inc. is betting on automation to help it weather an expected blizzard of holiday e-commerce packages. The delivery giant has spent billions on new capacity, the WSJ’s Paul Ziobro writes, including 22 automated sorting facilities that can process packages faster with fewer workers. Surging online purchases are straining logistics networks. UPS hopes to avoid prior peak-season stumbles by working more closely with customers on shipping forecasts, and it is again charging more for residential deliveries on the last days leading up to Christmas. FedEx Corp. has also opened new delivery hubs and sorting stations for oversize items. The U.S. Postal Service handles many last-mile deliveries for both carriers, and it has been preparing for the storm by leasing more space and planning additional routes to help deliver a projected 900 million holiday packages.

General Motors Co. is shrinking as consumer demand for passenger cars slides. The company is ending production at several North American plants and slashing up to 14,800 jobs, the WSJ’s Mike Colias and Bob Davis report. GM’s plans to drop several models from its U.S. lineup, from big sedans to compact cars and its plug-in hybrid, likely upending auto-parts supply chains and raising warning signals over shifts auto manufacturing strategies and the U.S. industrial economy. The company is idling three assembly plants in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, and two smaller transmission factories, cutting off significant demand for materials and parts. The decision is raising a political firestorm over the impact of tariffs on GM’s costs, but the company’s action goes beyond cost cutting. GM’s goal is streamlining its core business while gaining room to invest in new technology like electric and self-driving vehicles.

Climate change is pushing the farm belt northward. Farmers are plowing up forests and planting corn in former wheat fields, the WSJ’s Jacob Bunge reports, as rising temperatures extend the growing season and expand regions where some crops can be grown. Warming temperatures have helped increase U.S. corn harvests and boosted corn and soybean acreage in Canada. The boom is also driving expansion of business lines that process and transport crops. Companies are adding more grain-shipping facilities in Canada, and the Port of Prince Rupert on Canada's west coast has nearly doubled its agricultural exports since 2008. Agricultural giants such as DowDuPont Inc. are pushing to develop hardier varieties that mature faster so farmers can take advantage of climatic shifts. Still, over time climatic factors such as drought and soil erosion are expected to cut overall production.

U.S. drone deliveries are still years away. The Federal Aviation Administration is significantly behind schedule for creating rules to identify and track airborne drones, the WSJ’s Andy Pasztor writes, frustrating companies whose commercial applications for uses such as package delivery remain on hold. Federal regulators and industry advocates have been working together to try and fast-track decisions on reliable remote-tracking methods so that officials can identify suspect or potentially hostile drones. But some experts say the rules may not be finalized until 2022 amid disagreements over how to track flying robots that may operate out of sight of air-traffic controllers. The delay could limit development of applications such as dropping shipments in remote rural areas or using drones to bypass clogged surface streets for deliveries.

Prices of iron ore have hit four-month lows as Chinese steel mills try to cut costs in a saturated market. (WSJ)

Plunging oil prices could force U.S. shale drillers to pull back on production. (WSJ)

U.S. food regulators are closing in on the source of the E. coli outbreak that has shut down the romaine lettuce market. (WSJ)

United Technologies Corp. is splitting itself into three independent companies, breaking up one of the last U.S. industrial conglomerates. (WSJ)

Russia’s seizure of three naval Ukrainian ships is slowing passage through the Kerch Strait. (WSJ) 

Former Nissan head Carlos Ghosn was ousted as chairman of Nissan partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. . (WSJ)

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is looking to sell its robotics business for between $1.7 billion and $2.3 billion. (Bloomberg)

Malaysia wants to cut fuel imports by upping biodiesel usage in its transport and industrial sectors. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Russia will offer premiums for production of low-sulfur bunker fuel. (Ship & Bunker)

Taiwan’s seaports will enforce the use of low-sulfur fuel starting this January. (Seatrade Maritime)

Diana Shipping Inc. swung to a $13.3 million profit in the third quarter. (Lloyd’s List)

Ceva Logistics is acquiring the ocean freight forwarding unit of shipping line CMA CGM SA, Ceva’s majority shareholder. (The Loadstar)

The European Union may join Japan’s World Trade Organization complaint against Korean shipbuilders. (Splash 247)

Amazon.com Inc. is closing its London restaurant delivery service. (Evening Standard)

The Freight Transport association warns Brexit will make it harder to hire U.K. truck drivers. (Motor Transport).

Toyota Motor Corp. opened its largest Australian parts warehouse outside Sydney. (Automotive Logistics)

Driver wages could rise up to 11.5% in 2018, says the National Transportation Institute. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @jensmithWSJ, @EEPhillips_WSJ, @CostasParis. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.