Some truckers are tapping the brakes on the sector’s push toward battery-cell electric big rigs. Operators in California facing pressing zero-emissions regulations say they’re looking more closely at hydrogen-fueled vehicles, arguing they solve some of the key problems that battery technology presents to their business. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes the carriers say hydrogen offers longer trips and faster refueling than battery-cell technology, while allowing trucks to haul heavier loads because they aren’t carrying industrial-scale batteries. Hydrogen technology faces big hurdles, however, because battery-cell development is far more advanced. Fueling stations for hydrogen are also scarce. The question is pressing in California because of rules that bar the introduction of new diesel-fueled big rigs in port trucking operations after this year. Those concerns over range and charging time will get more urgent as truckers look to deploy zero-emissions vehicles on longer hauls.

• Los Angeles County has more public EV fast chargers than any other in the country. In a video report, the WSJ’s Joanna Stern hit 30 charging locations in a Rivian pickup and ran into problems at 40% of them. (WSJ)
• Lawyers for former Nikola chief Trevor Milton asked a court to spare him from prison, saying he “sees the world differently than most other people.” (Financial Times)
• Japan's Isuzu Motors plans to launch a new business based on electric trucks that use replaceable batteries. (Nikkei Asia)

Target is focusing on costs heading into the holidays, and so are its customers. The retailer set a sober outlook for seasonal business with earnings showing comparable sales tumbled 4.9% in the three months ended Oct. 28. The WSJ’s Sarah Nassauer reports Target’s earnings jumped, however, rising 36% to $971 million, aided by tight inventory and expense management. Reduced freight spending and lower supply chain and digital fulfillment costs also helped pad the bottom line, but tighter inventory controls after last year’s overstocking woes may have had the biggest impact. Overall inventory is 14% lower than a year earlier, and what Target calls discretionary inventory is down 19%. The result is fewer goods moving through Target’s distribution channels, highlighting the company’s focus on getting the right goods in the right place. That is boosting Target’s operating margin even as it adds to a sinking outlook for holiday sales.

• Retailer TJX issued a profit warning despite improving quarterly earnings and a strong start to fourth-quarter sales. (MarketWatch)

Target uses its almost 2,000 stores to deliver 95% of its online orders. Now it’s ramping up its speed by investing $100 million in local sortation centers to keep up with Amazon and Walmart. A WSJ video report looks at Target’s first sortation center to explore its store-centric fast-shipping strategy.

U.S. retail sales slipped 0.1% from September to October, the first monthly decline since March. (WSJ)

China’s retail sales growth accelerated and industrial production rose 4.6% in October from last year. (WSJ)

A measure of manufacturing activity in New York state rose in November to its highest level since April. (MarketWatch)

Goodyear Tire & Rubber is exploring strategic alternatives for some units, including its chemical business and Dunlop tires brand. (WSJ)

New regulations in Canada will require companies to identify and prevent child and forced labor in their supplier networks. (Logistics Management)

U.S. regulators tightened financial stability requirements for freight brokers and forwarders. (Trucking Dive)

Taiwanese battery maker E-One Moli Energy plans to build an approximately $800 million plant in western Canada. (CTV)

Boeing is building a supply and distribution center in India for aircraft components. (Gulf News) 

The U.S. Postal Service lost $6.5 billion in the past fiscal year as first-class mail volume fell to the lowest level since 1968. (Reuters)

Amazon is deploying a new mobile robot called Titan to carry heavy products in fulfillment centers. (Supply Chain Dive)

Unionized pilots at Air Transport International voted to authorize a strike against the freighter operator. (Air Cargo News)

Israel’s Zim cut its earnings outlook after the container line took a large impairment charge and fell to a $2.3 billion third-quarter loss. (Lloyd’s List)

Turkish authorities seized 52 kilograms of cocaine tied to a vessel’s anchor chain. (Splash 247)

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.