United Parcel Service plans to eliminate 30,000 operational jobs and close at least 24 more buildings as it cuts the volume of lower-margin business it does with Amazon. The latest round of job cuts follows the elimination last year of 48,000 positions—14,000 in management and 34,000 in operations—The Wall Street Journal’s Connor Hart reports.

The headcount reductions will come through voluntary separations for full-time drivers, as well as attrition, CFO Brian Dykes said on a call with analysts, after the company posted higher quarterly profit and guided for slightly higher revenue in the coming year. UPS so far has delivered about $3.5 billion in savings tied to its restructuring. Dykes said the company plans to deploy more automation across its network.

International operating profit fell, partly on trade-policy changes that caused a shift away from more profitable U.S. import lanes. Supply Chain Solutions revenue slipped, driven by soft demand in Air and Ocean Forwarding. This was partially countered by revenue growth in Healthcare Logistics, as well in its digital unit that includes the Roadie and Happy Returns businesses. 

UPS also said it completed the retirement of its MD-11 fleet during the latest quarter, after one of these cargo jets crashed in November, killing 15 people. UPS plans to replace them with Boeing 767s over the next year or so. The recent quarter included $238 million worth of charges, including a $137 million writeoff tied to the MD-11 retirements.

Amazon is closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores in a shift to focus on its online same-day delivery service and expand its Whole Foods Market business. The e-commerce giant said its branded stores failed to deliver a distinctive customer experience with an economic model that could be scaled up successfully.

The closures will include 57 Fresh stores and 15 Amazon Go locations, according to an Amazon spokeswoman. The company said some of its closed Amazon-branded bricks-and-mortar stores would be converted into Whole Foods stores. It said it would open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores in the coming years.

Amazon isn’t abandoning physical stores altogether. The company won approval last week to open its largest-ever store in Orland Park, Ill., where it plans to sell groceries, general merchandise and prepared foods.

India and the European Union reached a free-trade agreement that will open a new market for European cars and other products, showing how the world’s middle powers are expanding alliances in response to President Trump’s tariffs.

The deal, which needs to be completed and ratified by both sides, is set to link almost two billion consumers across the two economies, making it the biggest free-trade agreement by population that the EU has concluded, the WSJ’s Kim Mackrael and Tripti Lahiri write. The EU earlier this month signed a free-trade agreement with the four South American countries that founded the Mercosur customs union.

The pact comes as President Trump sowed fresh doubts about the staying power of his trade deals with a vow to raise tariffs to 25% from 15% on South Korea despite a deal cut in the fall. Officials in Seoul said the move took them by surprise. The Trump administration warned South Korea not to target tech companies with discriminatory regulations and probes, in an effort to protect U.S. internet platforms as it threatens higher tariffs.

• General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Canada’s deal to import Chinese EVs threatens North American auto manufacturing and jobs. (WSJ)

• The U.S. economy may be experiencing a sustained increase in its potential growth rate, possibly reaching 2.2% or 2.4%, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist said. (WSJ)
• U.S. consumer confidence dropped in January to the lowest level recorded by The Conference Board’s survey in more than a decade. (WSJ)
• The manager overseeing construction of a $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River said it would have to stop all work on the project unless the Trump administration unfreezes its funding. (WSJ)
• Union Pacific’s CEO said the company was revising its merger application with Norfolk Southern after a federal regulator ruled the initial filing was incomplete. (WSJ)
• Paccar posted lower quarterly profit as weaker truck sales offset gains from the company's parts and financial-services businesses. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• Meta struck a multiyear deal worth up to $6 billion to buy fiber-optic cable from Corning for U.S. AI data centers. (WSJ)
• Micron Technology plans to invest about $24 billion in Singapore over the next 10 years as it expands manufacturing to meet demand for chips amid the AI boom. (WSJ)
• Tesla’s new-car registrations in Europe fell by a fifth in December and by 27% for the year, totaling 35,280 and 238,656 units, respectively. (WSJ)
• Boeing’s quarterly sales increased 57% to $23.95 billion, driven by commercial aircraft deliveries reaching their highest level since 2018. (WSJ)
• First Brand lenders are resisting company requests for a second loan of up to $700 million, and are pushing the auto-parts supplier to liquidate at least portions of its business instead. (WSJ)
• European logistics company HayWay Group is launching U.S. operations with an order of 80 Volvo trucks, with a goal of growing its fleet to about 1,400 by 2029. (SupplyChain24/7)
• American Eagle Outfitters is closing its Quiet Logistics unit, after buying and combining it with delivery startup AirTerra in 2021. (SupplyChainDive)
• A.P. Moller-Maersk said it was sticking to its plan to restart sending ships through the Red Sea despite threatening videos posted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. (ShippingWatch)
• Saia rebranded its LinkEx unit as Saia Logistics ahead of an expansion outside of the less-than-truckload carrier’s core operations. (Transport Topics)

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.