The Logistics Report will take a break during the final week of the year. Watch for us to return to your inbox on Jan. 2, 2024, and  check our website for late developments in the meantime. 

Autonomous truck technology is gaining some traction in industrial freight operations even if self-driving big rigs remain in the slow lane on public roads. Big shippers Kimberly-Clark and Newell Brands are among companies putting the tech to work within warehouses and freight yards. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes that the efforts suggest the technology is showing promise deeper inside shipping operations even as high-profile attempts to bring autonomous big rigs to highways remain in a lower gear. Although the market for autonomous trucks that move trailers around freight yards remains small, ABI Research projects it will grow at a 53% compound annual growth rate through 2030. It’s no wonder: While even straight roads are subject to complications like passenger-car behavior and construction zones, companies generally can control their own facilities. Self-driving yard trucks and autonomous forklifts may not get much attention, but they appear to be handling more freight.

• Autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics says it is on track to put self-driving rigs on the road without safety drivers by 2027. (Axios)

The airfreight business has a new, very welcome driver of demand. Chinese-backed shopping platforms Shein and Temu are each shipping an estimated one million packages a day on average in the U.S., according to parcel-shipping consultant ShipMatrix. The WSJ’s Esther Fung and Shen Lu report that the volume estimate would put them at more than twice the level of televised shopping networks QVC and HSN. The totals are just a fraction of the estimated 20 million packages that Amazon ships daily, but the Shein and Temu business is growing rapidly. The shipments are boosting airfreight volumes as other parts of the shipping industry grapple with sluggish demand. WorldACD reports airfreight tonnage out of Asia jumped 5% year-over-year in November, and U.S. tonnage jumped 9% in the first two weeks after Thanksgiving. One freight forwarder says the U.S. volume for the two discount online retailers “is staggering and growing.”

• Boeing delivered its first 787 passenger jet to China since 2019. (Reuters)
• Australia’s Qantas added a second Airbus A330-200 converted freighter. (Air Cargo News)

A trade showdown between the U.S. and China over clean energy may be heating up. The Biden administration is discussing raising tariffs on some Chinese goods that would include electric vehicles. The WSJ’s Andrew Duehren reports that the move would be aimed at wrapping up a long-running review of the tariffs early next year and bolster the U.S. clean-energy industry against cheaper Chinese exports. Chinese EVs are already subject to a 25% tariff, which has helped prevent subsidized Chinese automakers from making inroads into the U.S. market. Raising that tariff, which comes on top of a 2.5% tariff on auto imports, likely would have little immediate impact on U.S. consumers. But other targets for potential tariff-rate increases include Chinese solar products and EV battery packs. Still, the administration hasn’t decided on the tariffs, and earlier internal discussions about adjusting tariffs on China fizzled out without any changes.

• Chinese electric-vehicle giant BYD plans to build a factory in Hungary. (Financial Times)
• Japanese automaker Daihatsu Motors will stop shipping all of its cars over safety concerns. (Nikkei Asia)

U.S. third-quarter economic growth was revised downward to 4.9%. (MarketWatch)

The U.S. index of leading economic indicators fell for the 20th straight month. (MarketWatch)

A measure of business activity in the Philadelphia region fell deeper into negative territory. (MarketWatch)

Bankrupt trucker Yellow raised another $83 million with the sale of 23 of its leased freight terminals. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Freight broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide says finance chief Mike Zechmeister is leaving the company. (Dow Jones Newswires)

The U.K.’s Harbour Energy is buying most of the upstream assets of oil-and-gas producer Wintershall Dea. (WSJ)

South Korea is investigating food suppliers that shrink their volumes while maintaining prices. (WSJ)

Electric-scooter company Bird Global filed for bankruptcy two years after going public through a SPAC. (WSJ)

Tracking data shows Cosco Shipping is following its peers in avoiding the Suez Canal as container lines levied additional fees on the route. (Lloyd’s List)

Analysts expect the containership charter market to get a boost from Red Sea diversions. (The Loadstar)

Five tankers carrying Russian crude to India have failed to reach their destinations in recent weeks. (Bloomberg)

Private equity-owned Wilhelmsen acquired Zeaborn Ship Management. (Maritime Executive)

J.C. Penney’s third-quarter net sales fell 10.7% over the previous year. (Retail Dive)

Health technology company Siemens Healthineers is suing a supplier over work on a $40 million contract with the Pentagon. (Supply Chain Dive)

A Singapore court defined a ship as a waterborne vessel that looks like a ship and operates like a ship. (TradeWinds)

• Thrift stores are guessing you’ll be happy with a secondhand gift this Christmas.
• Some retailers are using AI to steer certain ads away from shoppers most likely to return products.
• Walgreens’s new CIO will try to turn things around after a rocky year at the pharmacy chain’s IT department marked by layoffs, disruption and low morale.
• Adobe's acquisition of Figma succumbed to pressure from regulators who want to protect innovation. Tech experts are split over whether that will work—or have the opposite effect.

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.