The slowdown in freight demand and transport cost inflation is fully underway, presenting new challenges and opportunities across global and local supply chains. In a special report on the impact of dramatic swings in costs in the business world, the WSJ Logistics Report looks at how C-Suite executives are responding to inflationary pressures and an era of turbulent shipping expenses. The impact of wavering consumer demand and overstocking is cascading from the ocean sector through U.S. domestic supply chains, dimming volumes for trucking companies and railroads. That is bringing down the hefty freight rates that have crashed companies’ transportation budgets over the past two years. Receding transport pricing hasn’t reached deeply into the economy yet, in part because freight rates in many cases remain above prepandemic levels. But contract prices are already coming under pressure, and freight carriers will adjust capacity in what’s likely to be a bumpy 2023.

• The C-Suite Survival Guide to Inflation and Economic Turbulence
• CIOs Can Play Key Role in Guiding Companies Through a Slowdown
• How to Take Advantage of the Logistics and Supply Chain Slowdowne
• Marketers Must Be Flexible, Without Losing Identity, Amid Uncertainty
• Zero-Based Budgeting, Currency Hedges Among Tools CFOs Can Use

Luxury retailers are increasingly expecting their logistics services to be tied up neatly in a bow, quite literally. Some warehouse workers have been preparing for the seasonal rush of orders and deliveries by learning to hand-tie ribbons and to carefully hand-write notes. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes the practice comes as luxury brands look to expand their e-commerce business while reproducing the high-end store experience for items shipped to people’s homes. Logistics providers say it’s part of the growth in value-added services driven by broader changes in the retail sector. The highly-personalized attention to each box runs counter to the drive for logistics efficiency that generally aims to push as many goods as quickly as possible through warehouses. But Kuehne + Nagel executive Kevin Scattergood says luxury brands are willing to pay a premium for the services as they try to keep up with changing consumer demands.

Turbulence in supply chains is cracking the yearslong stability that globalization has brought to the food sector. Food-price inflation hit multidecade highs this year in the U.S. and elsewhere, outpacing overall consumer prices. The WSJ’s Alistair MacDonald reports that food-industry executives and economists point to manufacturing and transport disruptions stemming from the pandemic and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy and grain prices. The impact of those issues may be receding, but analysts expect price swings to be more frequent. Huge gains in farming and food-manufacturing productivity, globalization and lower transport costs have all served to expand choice and hold down prices for consumers. Some suppliers say they will try to source more goods closer to home, but that will be a heavy task since almost a quarter of overall global food exports now have a foreign component, according to the World Trade Organization.

• Restaurants and supermarkets are ramping up competition for Americans’ mealtimes, as food bills continue to rise. (WSJ)

U.S. orders of durable goods jumped 1% in October. (MarketWatch)

Protests are erupting in major cities in China over President Xi Jinping’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19. (WSJ)

Americans returned to their prepandemic shopping habits on Black Friday as they spent more time and money in stores than last year, (WSJ) 

OPEC and its allies are due to make a big call on oil production this week, as expanded sanctions are set to strike Russia’s energy industry. (WSJ)

The U.S. will allow Chevron to resume pumping oil from its Venezuelan oil fields. (WSJ)

Bed Bath & Beyond is struggling to keep its stores stocked as it gears up for the holiday season. (WSJ)

Deere projects growing demand for farm and construction equipment next year, as supply-chain constraints ease. (WSJ)

The U.S. blocked imports of sugar and sugar-based products from a Dominican Republic-based company because of its alleged use of forced labor. (WSJ)

South Korea is considering ordering striking truckers back to work as the job action starts to hit exports. (Bloomberg)

Analysts and policymakers say India is emerging as an alternative production base to China as U.S. companies diversify production. (South China Morning Post)

Japanese chip equipment supplier Ferrotec is reconfiguring its supply chain to access both the U.S. and China markets. (Financial Times)

Indian exporters say a new tax on freight charges is starting to affect outbound business. (The Loadstar)

CMA CGM’s third-quarter profit jumped to $7 billion from $5.6 billion the year before. (Reuters)

Alphaliner says container lines’ vessel-buying spree “is clearly over.” (ShippingWatch)

Xeneta says shipping lines may idle up to 1 million 20-foot equivalent units of capacity as demand turns down. (Maritime Executive) 

The Baltic Exchange secondhand price index for the tanker sector soared to the highest level since January 2009. (TradeWinds)

The proportion of orders at Chinese shipyards for dual-fuel new vessels has more than doubled this year. (Lloyd’s List)

Mediterranean Shipping withdrew from the consortium seeking to buy Italy’s ITA Airways. (Reuters)

Forwarder Kuehne + Nagel added a 747 freighter to its international operations. (Journal of Commerce)

U.S. truck-trailer orders soared 171% in October from last year. (Fleet Owner)

Amtrak and freight railroads reached a settlement over the passenger railroad’s plan to restore service along the Gulf Coast. (Progressive Railroading)

A Florida startup is trying to raise money for an automated rail operation using maglev technology as an alternative to the Panama Canal. (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 Twitter at @WSJLogistics.