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LogisticsLogistics

Diesel Trucks in Demand; Crumbling Emissions Plans; Amazon Upbeat

By Paul Page

 

A Kenworth electric truck at Hight Logistics in Long Beach, Calif., last year.

PHOTO: BING GUAN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

A looming mandate for zero-emission trucks in California is setting off a run on heavier-polluting diesel rigs. That rule taking effect Jan. 1 bars the addition of new diesel trucks in operations at the state’s ports. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes the deadline is one of a series of new and pending regulations aimed at limiting carbon emissions across California’s sprawling goods economy. But many port truckers said they are looking to get ahead of the restriction by beefing up their diesel fleets now so that those trucks can continue to operate at ports after the rule takes effect. The struggles show the difficulty authorities face as they try to push a heavily-polluting industry toward cleaner fuels. In California, officials are trying to jumpstart a market for zero-emission vehicles by mandating their use in state-regulated spaces. They also hope it draws in more suppliers of charging infrastructure.

  • The United Auto Workers strike highlights a conflict between the Biden administration’s efforts to promote electric vehicles and the president’s support for labor unions. (WSJ)
 
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Supply Chain Strategies

Miner Rio Tinto is struggling to obtain enough renewable power to meet its climate goals.

PHOTO: CARLA GOTTGENS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Climate progress at big companies is hitting a wall. Two years after many of the world’s largest companies and financial firms promised to slash emissions, Amazon, Delta Air Lines, Rio Tinto and other industrial heavyweights are struggling to make progress. The WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar, Ed Ballard and Shane Shifflett report that many of them have overpromised and underdelivered because of higher costs, slow advances in technology and political pressure. One big factor is a lack of trust in voluntary carbon markets. Rio Tinto said it would miss its 2025 emissions target unless it used carbon offsets, and blamed the slow deployment of clean energy and low-carbon equipment. Amazon has withdrawn a plan to make half of its shipments “net zero” by 2030. Amazon said the effort was superseded by a businesswide plan to achieve net zero by 2040, but that doesn’t include nearer-term publicly announced goals for delivery emissions.

  • CMA CGM and Maersk will cooperate in emissions-reductions efforts, including support for methanol and research into potential alternative fuels such as ammonia. (Reuters)
 
 

Quotable

“Many companies are learning that the beginning of decarbonization is easy. The moment you really need to go into true transformation, the work becomes quite difficult.”

— Günther Thallinger, an Allianz board member who chairs a U.N. climate-focused investor group
 
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Transportation

An Amazon delivery worker in New York City. PHOTO: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS

Amazon apparently isn’t buying into the projections of a lackluster holiday shipping season. The e-commerce market leader is adding 250,000 workers this fall and offering higher pay and signing bonuses to boost staffing at its distribution centers. The WSJ’s Talal Ansari reports Amazon’s plan exceeds the 150,000 seasonal workers the company planned to hire in each of the past two years, a sign of robust confidence in a retail market that has moved in fits and starts so far this year. Plans in the retail sector aren’t nearly as cheerful. Big-box merchant Target said it plans to add 100,000 seasonal workers this year, in line with last year’s hiring, including in-store and supply-chain staffers. Macy’s is trimming its seasonal hiring 7% compared to last year, to 38,000 workers. The U.S. Postal Service said it is bringing on just 10,000 workers after earlier hiring initiatives.

  • More than three quarters of U.S. adults in a survey say they plan to cut back spending for nonessential items in the coming months. (CNBC)
 

Number of the Day

2.3%

Year-over-year decline in the American Trucking Associations seasonally-adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index in August, the sixth straight annual decline.

 

In Other News

Ford reached a tentative labor deal with Canadian union Unifor, averting a potential strike. (WSJ)

The OECD lifted its forecast for global growth in 2023 to 3% but cut its outlook for economic activity next year. (MarketWatch)

Construction of new U.S. homes fell 11.3% in August to the lowest level since June 2020. (MarketWatch)

Shares in Instacart jumped sharply following the grocery delivery company’s initial public stock offering. (WSJ)

Coyote Logistics named CFO Sandeep Pisipati chief executive in a management shakeup after Jonathan Sisler resigned from the UPS freight brokerage operation. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Automotive parts supplier CIE Newcor plans to begin layoffs Oct. 2 as the automaker strike takes a toll on business. (Detroit Free Press)

A grain ship became the first vessel to enter a Ukrainian Black Sea port and depart with a cargo load despite a Russian blockade. (Financial Times)

Natural gas carriers are increasingly routing ships through the Suez Canal to avoid congestion at the Panama Canal. (ShippingWatch)

German container line Hapag-Lloyd is carving out its terminal operations into a separate division. (Splash 247)

Rising diesel prices are pushing up trucking fuel surcharges for shippers. (Journal of Commerce)

Canadian National and Norfolk Southern will cooperate on a cross-border intermodal service. (Trains)

Bullet-train operator East Japan Railway will start freight operations next April. (Nikkei Asia)

Air Belgium is dropping its troubled passenger business and seeking protection from creditors as it continues only its freight operations. (CH-Aviation)

 

About Us

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.

 
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