U.S. rail infrastructure is about to get an upgrade. The federal government has tabbed dozens of aging rail bridges and tracks to receive $1.4 billion in grants for repairs and upgrades. The WSJ’s Esther Fung reports the funding will back some 70 approved projects, with improvements to freight railroad operations targeted for about $600 million of the backing. Freight rail infrastructure had come under scrutiny recently amid derailments, hazardous materials incidents and protracted blocked crossings. Some lawmakers have argued against government assistance, saying the largest freight railroads have made billions in profits and paid billions in stock buybacks and dividends. Among the projects backed by the Federal Railroad Administration is one to replace the Point-No-Point Bridge in New Jersey. The 124-year-old swing bridge is owned by Conrail and carries around 7,000 freight cars a day on trains operated by CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Lego’s efforts to eliminate plastics in its supply chain have hit a brick wall. The world’s biggest toy maker is scrapping plans to make its toy bricks from recycled plastic bottles after determining that switching to the material would lead to the company producing higher carbon emissions. The WSJ’s Dominic Chopping reports the company isn’t giving up on its yearslong effort to make its bricks with something other than petroleum-based plastics. Lego came to the latest plan for recycled plastic after it tried numerous other materials that all failed to deliver the distinctive durability of its multicolored blocks. Lego’s struggle to find a replacement material highlights the conflicts many companies face as they try to make their products sustainably. Lego says scaling up production of the latest material wouldn’t cut the company’s carbon emissions, in part because the extra steps involved in production would use more energy.

• Many large food and beverage companies and restaurant chains are struggling to balance their robust growth in recent years with their climate goals. (New York Times)
• Lufthansa says it would consume half of Germany’s electricity production to switch its fleet to green aviation fuels. (Bloomberg)

Germany’s goal of manufacturing its own super-fast computer chips is getting off to a slow start. A plan by Intel to build a semiconductor factory in eastern Germany by the end of the decade is running up against a tight labor market and local hostility to the project. The WSJ’s Jimmy Vielkind reports the project, backed by about $10.6 billion in federal subsidies, is part of a broader European Union effort to double the continent’s share of global chip production to compete with established producers in Asia. The support is also meant to respond to the Biden administration’s manufacturing incentives aimed at luring semiconductor and electric-vehicle factories. On the ground, the Intel plan in Germany and similar projects face hurdles from a shortage of skilled workers to an at-times Byzantine bureaucracy. For manufacturing-focused Germany, expanding semiconductor production is essential to catch up technologically and increase economic resilience.

The Chicago Fed said U.S. economic growth slowed in August on moderating industrial activity. (MarketWatch)

The shift in responsibility for Covid-19 vaccine distribution from federal agencies to the commercial markets has left shortages and disruptions in deliveries. (WSJ)

World trade volumes fell in July at the fastest annual pace in nearly three years. (Financial Times)

Russia loosened some of its new restrictions on the export of diesel fuel. (Reuters)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a billion that would have required human drivers on board self-driving trucks. (Associated Press)

Toyota plans to triple electric-vehicle production in 2025 from its 2024 projection. (Nikkei Asia)

Nissan says all new car models it launches in Europe will be electric. (CNBC)

Seafarers’ negotiators struck a four-year labor agreement with employers calling for a 6% wage increase over the first two years of the pact. (TradeWinds)

The U.K.’s Port of Liverpool is laying off more than 100 workers after container volumes fell 12% in the first half of the year. (Container Management)

Air Canada dropped plans to buy two Boeing 777 freighters and instead ordered 18 787-10 passenger aircraft. (Aviation Week)

Air France-KLM plans to order 50 Airbus A350 passenger jets. (Simple Flying)

Lloyd Fraser Group says “bullying” bankers forced the third-party logistics operator into the U.K. version of bankruptcy. (Motor Transport)

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

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.