Regulatory efforts aimed at Amazon’s California warehouses may reach into logistics operations across the U.S. Lawmakers in the state are pressing for a new law that would place new oversight on the way the e-commerce giant manages workers in its fulfillment centers. The WSJ’s Sebastian Herrera writes the measure would impose new transparency on Amazon's enforcement of performance goals and how that affects the health and safety of its workers. The legislation targets the highly detailed, closely watched requirements for workers known at Amazon as “making rate” that play a significant role in the company’s intricate and rapidly growing logistics network. The performance goals have been a source of tension inside Amazon warehouses, however, and led to complaints by workers. Competitors keep close tabs on Amazon as they build rival e-commerce distribution operations, and changes in California operations would reverberate across the state’s big warehousing operations and beyond California’s borders. 

The reshaping of automotive supply chains is reaching the very steel that makes up the cars. Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz this month signed a deal to have a unit of Swedish steelmaker SSAB supply low-carbon steel to the auto company, the WSJ’s William Boston reports, a sign of the rapid moves European car manufacturers and steel producers are undertaking to develop and use lower-carbon steel. The steel sector is one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide while auto companies are one of the largest users of steel, putting the industries at the heart of Europe’s climate plans. Auto makers are taking carbon-cutting steps through technology that are already fostering new relationships with battery makers, chip companies and other suppliers. Shifting the kind of steel manufacturers buy would mark a major change. Observers say it may take years to absorb and would add significant new costs at assembly plants.

Recent turmoil in automotive manufacturing is pushing closer cooperation between car makers and semiconductor suppliers into the fast lane. Executives from car and chip makers are establishing closer ties to address the global semiconductor shortage and working together to introduce new products. The WSJ’s Asa Fitch reports that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told an auto industry event in Munich this month that he expects semiconductors to make up a fifth of the materials costs in premium-segment cars by 2030, up from 4% in 2019. That’s a dramatic measure of how technology is resetting automotive supply chains. Car makers have long dealt with chip suppliers indirectly, a structure that contributed to the chip crisis that has crimped production for many car makers this year. Chip makers are counting on auto makers as a fast-growing market, and the closer relations could signal similar moves in other sectors increasingly focused on technology.

The District of Columbia accused Amazon of contracting with wholesalers in a way that drives up product prices on other websites and insulates the retailer from competition. (WSJ)

Kansas City Southern says a takeover offer from Canadian Pacific Railway is superior to one it already accepted from Canadian National Railway. (WSJ)

Energy prices in Europe are surging as winds in the stormy North Sea have grown unusually calm, undercutting wind power. (WSJ)

OPEC raised its forecast for oil demand next year to beyond the pre-pandemic level. (WSJ)

More companies are holding back on large foreign investments, deepening the economic damage from Covid-19 border closures. (WSJ)

President Biden intends to nominate former State Department official Reta Jo Lewis to lead the Export-Import Bank. (WSJ)

British logistics heavyweight Wincanton expects disruption from the country’s truck driver shortage to get worse. (Financial Times)

Electronics manufacturer Hitachi plans to work with suppliers to eliminate greenhouse gases from its supply chain by 2050. (Nikkei Asia)

Bankrupt retailer Forever 21 asked a court to dismiss its chapter 11 case after failing to get court approval of its reorganization plan. (Bloomberg Law)

Ship managers, owners and flag states are considering compulsory vaccinations for seafarers. (Lloyd’s List)

The rate index for transport on the largest capesize bulk vessels rose 14.8% to the highest point in more than a decade. (TradeWinds)

The number of containers and truck trailers moving through U.K. ports rose 38% in the second quarter. (Port Technology)

Former Wallenius Wilhelmsen chief executive Craig Jasienski will become CEO of car carrier Neptune Lines. (Automotive Logistics)

Supply-chain technology firm TrueCommerce acquired digital connectivity provider DiCentral for an undisclosed sum. (Supply Chain Management Review)

Rail businesses Wabtec and Genesee & Wyoming will work with Carnegie Mellon University researchers on efforts to cut emissions​ and foster innovation. (DC Velocity)

Vector.ai raised $15 million in a Series A funding round supporting its productivity platform for freight forwarders. (TechCrunch)

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

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @jensmithWSJ, and @pdberger. and @LydsOneal. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.