Being big may never have mattered as much in supply chains as it does now. Consumer-goods supplier Procter & Gamble says it is using its scale to navigate congestion and delivery slowdowns while keeping its products in stock. The WSJ’s Sharon Terlep writes P&G’s upbeat assessment highlights how the world’s biggest companies are using deep pockets, sprawling global operations and commanding market share to insulate themselves from the global supply-chain meltdown. P&G is maintaining its sales and profit goals as it spends on supply-chain fixes and greater flexibility. The company is enlisting backup suppliers, changing shipping routes to get around bottlenecks, reformulating products and sometimes limiting how much any one retailer can buy at a time to avoid stockpiling. The company still faces stresses, including rising transportation and raw materials costs. But P&G’s scale also makes it attractive to suppliers, helping keep goods on the move.

Venture-capital interest in digital freight load-matching appears to be as strong as ever. Six-year-old startup Flock Freight just raised another $215 million in new backing, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Lydia O’Neal writes, with early backer SoftBank leading a funding round that values the business at $1.3 billion. Flock Freight is looking for a place in a crowded field of digital startups by targeting a specialized piece of its business. The California-based company is looking to get shippers to pool shipments to bypass the freight hubs used by less-than-truckload carriers. The twist for Flock Freight is that it can offer carbon offsets to customers with an operation it says is more environmentally friendly. That also gives the business status as a B Corporation, a special certification based on its emissions-saving efforts. The biggest competition may come from existing freight brokers that are scaling up their own digital investments.

The global upswing in trade is leaving the U.K. behind. British exporters that had built their businesses on close relations with the European Union are now staggering, the WSJ’s Jason Douglas reports, as reams of paperwork and ballooning costs raise questions for companies about their ability to reach overseas markets. Food supplier Lioncroft Wholesale has stopped exporting to the EU altogether, saying the need to hire a customs agent and take other steps to ship products would knock profitability “out the window straight away.” Brexit has put the U.K. outside the EU’s vast internal market, hobbling trade just as the country is trying to pull out of its worst economic downturn in a century. The U.K. is trailing the trading performance of its peers as the pandemic recedes and global commerce picks up, while Brexit intensifies the disruption felt in Britain from global supply-chain bottlenecks.

Housing markets in small U.S. cities are leading real-estate growth around the country. (WSJ)

Individual traders are helping drive up uranium prices. (WSJ)

Union Pacific and General Electric joined other large U.S. employers in ordering workers to comply with the federal deadline for getting Covid-19 vaccines. (WSJ)

Third-quarter sales at Johnson & Johnson climbed 11% from the same period last year. (WSJ)

Instacart’s chief executive foresees more runway for growth in grocery delivery. (WSJ)

Amazon, IKEA and Unilever are among nine companies pledging to use only zero-emissions ships to carry their cargo by 2040. (Lloyd’s List)

Los Angeles-Long Beach terminal operators say 24/7 gate hours are not feasible until retailers and truckers make better use of the 20 hours each weekday already available. (Journal of Commerce)

Union Pacific expanded its hours at the Port of Los Angeles to align with the port's goal to move to 24/7 operations. (Supply Chain Dive)

Bulk-vessel owner Diana Shipping will spin off three of its older ships into a new vehicle to be listed on Nasdaq. (Splash 247)

Mining giants BHP Group and Rio Tinto cut iron ore production in the third quarter. (Nikkei Asia)

General Motors extended the shutdown of a Michigan plant while it copes with battery shortfalls. (Automotive Logistics)

Walmart plans to build a highly automated, 720,000-square-foot grocery distribution center in Spartanburg County, S.C. (Spartanburg News Journal)

Kansas City Southern’s third-quarter profit fell 17.7% to $156.1 million as surging expenses offset a 12.8% gain in revenue. (MarketWatch)

Freight services provider Hub Group acquired refrigerated truck transport specialist Choptank Transport for $130 million. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Belgian logistics company H. Essers acquired chemicals and dangerous goods specialist Spanish Coral Transport & Stocks. (ShippingWatch)

Iron ore shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway were up 26% in the period from March 22 to Sept. 30. (Maritime Magazine)

Pet-products merchant Bark named veteran Amazon logistics executive Anil Nair as its chief supply chain officer. (Retail Dive)

An insurer is suing warehouse operator Logistec over a fire that destroyed $4.5 million in biofuel wood pellets last year. (Industrial News)

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.