The biggest truckload carrier in the U.S. wants to become a top-tier player in the separate less-than-truckload market. Executives at Knight-Swift Transportation say they are looking for acquisitions to bulk up an LTL business that now makes up only about 15% of the company’s revenue, raising the prospect of consolidation in trucking. The WSJ Logistics Report writes that Knight-Swift’s revived interest in the LTL market comes as the larger, more fragmented truckload business is faltering, with carriers reporting sagging earnings and excess capacity. The LTL business, in which multiple loads are carried for several customers on the same truck, has been more stable recently. The demise of Yellow last year spread more freight across the sector and brought a swath of real estate on the market. Knight-Swift is rushing in with plans to open 32 terminals this year, but the trucker looks ready to expand even more.

• Commercial truck maker Traton’s first quarter sales rose, as strong growth in South America offset a slowdown in Europe. (WSJ)
• Hub Group says it is back in the mergers-and-acquisitions market, with a focus on non-asset-based logistics platforms. (Trucking Dive)
• Quarterly earnings at Universal Logistics more than doubled on a 12.5% gain in revenue. (Dow Jones Newswires)

The Pentagon is getting a lesson in the risks of sole-source procurement in a key missile program. The U.S. military has long relied on one U.S. company to make the main ingredient that fuels its most powerful missiles. The WSJ’s Drew FitzGerald reports that years after building a factory to make more of the key chemical, Northrop Grumman’s output is still missing from the fuel powering many U.S. weapon systems. The delay comes as global conflicts have spurred demand for new tactical missiles, and billions of dollars in new spending is slated to bolster demand even more. But most of the fuel still comes from a specialty-chemicals company in Utah, American Pacific. It is an example of the single-source chokepoints that Pentagon logistics experts have flagged as a national-security risk. Supply-chain snarls during the pandemic raised alarms over the situations, but efforts to diversify suppliers have lagged.

A measure of U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated near the end of April. (MarketWatch)

Copper futures hit a two-year high amid signs of high demand from China and tight supply. (WSJ)

ExxonMobil and Chevron posted lower first-quarter profits in part due to anemic natural-gas prices and refining margins. (WSJ)

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is buying a 20% stake in Thyssenkrupp’s steel business. (WSJ)

The Port of Baltimore’s efforts to accommodate bigger ships tied the city’s fortunes to vessels that some experts say are prone to accidents and likely make supply chains less resilient. (Washington Post)

Some Chinese exporters are avoiding the yuan as profits shrink and the currency’s value falls against the dollar. (South China Morning Post)

Turkey is in talks with ExxonMobil over a multibillion-dollar deal to buy liquefied natural gas. (Financial Times)

Arrivals of grain carriers at Ukraine ports are back close to pre-war levels. (Lloyd’s List)

Honda plans to spend $11 billion to build electric vehicle and battery plants in Canada. (Reuters)

Growing demand from Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein is sending trans-Pacific air cargo prices soaring. (Nikkei Asia)

Freight forwarder DSV is buying a property in California’s Inland Empire for $107 million to build a 1.4-million-square-foot warehouse. (Commercial Observer)

DHL will pay $8.7 million to settle a 14-year-old class-action racial discrimination suit over operations in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)

Craft and sewing retailer Joann expects to complete its restructuring and emerge from bankruptcy in the coming days. (Cleveland Plain-Dealer)

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.