Highways, railroads and ports in Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Oman have been transformed into an emergency logistics lifeline, circumventing the Strait of Hormuz, the WSJ’s Ed Ballard and Georgi Kantchev write.

As the Iran confict has devolved into an economic war of attrition, every truckload that makes it across the desert blunts the pressure from the closed strait and gives Gulf governments room to wait out negotiations. The trucking routes are part of a broader redrawing of the regional logistics map, reorienting trade away from the vulnerable Persian Gulf.

Carriers including Mediterranean Shipping Co. and A.P. Moller-Maersk are trucking goods across the Arabian peninsula. The mobilization can’t replace the capacity of shipping or compete on cost, nor can it avert shortages of jet fuel. Still, it has become a shock absorber, sustaining trade and helping contain global inflation.

• Iran said it has significantly expanded its definition of the Strait of Hormuz and now considers the waterway to encompass a much larger area than before the war. (WSJ)
• The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects global oil inventories to decline by 2.6 million barrels a day in 2026, a faster rate than previously expected, because of the Iran war. (WSJ)
• QatarEnergy asked all ships calling at Ras Laffan Port, the world’s biggest LNG export hub, to switch off their automatic I.D. systems while in port waters. (WSJ)
• Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Adnoc Gas expects it will take until 2027 to fully restore production at its main natural-gas processing facility. (WSJ)

The Justice Department filed criminal charges against the operators of the containership Dali, which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2024, alleging they committed safety violations that resulted in the death of six construction workers.

Singapore-based Synergy Marine and its India-based subsidiary Synergy Maritime were charged with conspiracy for allegedly failing to inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition. They were also charged with obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements. Synergy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Synergy could face a fine of up to $10 billion, said Kelly Hayes, U.S. attorney for the district of Maryland. Synergy and the owner of the vessel, Grace Ocean Private, reached a $102 million settlement with DOJ in 2024 covering the federal government’s response costs.

Inflation is outstripping growth in Americans' paychecks for the first time in three years, with consumer prices rising 3.8% in April from a year earlier, according to the Labor Department. A surge in gasoline prices since the start of the war with Iran accounted for most of the increase. Prices excluding food and energy categories—the so-called core measure—rose 2.8%. (WSJ)

• Airline fares jumped nearly 21% from the previous year, according to the inflation data released Tuesday. (WSJ)
• The U.S. small business optimism index rose 0.1 points to 95.9 in April, but rising cost pressures hampered sentiment. (WSJ)

• A federal appeals court has agreed to temporarily pause a trade-court ruling that invalidated President Trump’s new global tariffs, allowing the administration to keep collecting the 10% levy for now. (WSJ)
• Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing Wednesday evening for a two-day visit that will include meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. (WSJ)
• The People’s Bank of China warned of imported inflation risks from higher global oil and commodity prices. (WSJ)
• Drought in the western plains prompted the Department of Agriculture to lower its outlook for U.S. wheat production this year. (WSJ)
• BMO Financial Group agreed to sell its transportation-finance unit—which provides specialty financing for trucks and trailers—and its vendor-finance business to Stonepeak. (WSJ)
• Google is in talks with SpaceX for a rocket-launch deal as the search giant expands efforts to put data centers in space. (WSJ)
• United Airlines said it will resume daily nonstop flights between Houston and Caracas, Venezuela, effective Aug. 11, subject to government approval. (WSJ)
• Tesla plans to invest $250 million in its German factory to increase production of battery cells for EVs. (WSJ)
• SAP said it was bringing its data, cloud, AI and automation features under one roof to help businesses with procurement, supply chains and other functions. (WSJ)
• France’s CMA CGM agreed to invest $820 million to expand and modernize two terminals at Kenya’s Port of Mombasa. (Splash247)
• Makers of solar-power products in the U.S. asked the Commerce Department to probe imports of panels from Ethiopia for violations of antidumping duties on Chinese components. (Nikkei Asia)
• Amazon said it was expanding its 30-minutes-or-less deliveries to dozens of additional U.S. cities, including Houston, Phoenix and Denver. (SupplyChainDive)
• The price of food-grade whey protein powder–a byproduct of cheesemaking–has risen more than 50% year-to-date, driven by booming demand for protein-rich products. (SupplyChainBrain)
• South Korea’s HD Hyundai Robotics won a contract to supply robotic welding systems to four Chouest Group shipyards–three in North America and one in Brazil. (WorkBoat)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.