The maritime shipping industry appears to be taking a slower route toward cutting carbon emissions. The International Maritime Organization is meeting this week amid signs that the United Nations regulatory body will steer clear of the tougher restrictions that Western governments and environmental groups have sought. The WSJ’s Costas Paris reports that the IMO is expected to introduce a goal of net-zero carbon emissions without a specific year to reach the milestone and without a carbon tax that could help fund the transition to cleaner-burning fuels. The soft target reflects a divide in the sector between countries that are looking for tough targets and other countries, including China, balking at a faster transition from fossil fuels. Maritime operators are seeking a clear timetable that will help set investment plans for fleets, port infrastructure and fuel availability. But the IMO wrangling suggests global shipping emissions rules will remain fragmented.

• European countries plan next year to seek an emissions control area in the North Atlantic. (Lloyd’s List)
• Hapag-Lloyd and Seaspan are moving to retrofit up to 60 container ships for methanol fuel capability. (TradeWinds)

Electric-vehicle dealers have something new out on their lots: unsold inventory. Automakers sold 557,330 electric vehicles in the first half of the year, up 50% from last year. The WSJ’s Mike Colias reports the pace was down from 71% growth in the first half of 2022 even as many car companies cut prices to stimulate demand. Cox Automotive says inventory also reached record levels, with some 90,000 EVs on lots or on the way at the end of June, a fourfold increase from a year earlier. That represents 92 days of unsold inventory, compared with a 51-day supply across all types of vehicles. Car makers are watching the sales figures as they build up new supply chains from raw materials to assembly plants. The EV share of the U.S. market has grown from 5.4% last year to 7.2% in the January-to-June period.

• California regulators and truck and engine manufacturers reached an agreement that will give companies more flexibility to meet state emissions rules. (Reuters)

Two firefighters were killed and several were injured fighting a blaze aboard a combination container and car-carrier vessel at Port Newark in New Jersey.  A WSJ video report shows crews battling the fire that began on the 10th floor of the Grimaldi Lines cargo ship.

A measure of business activity in the U.S. service sector rose sharply in June. (MarketWatch)

Payroll-services firm ADP says the U.S. private sector added 497,000 jobs in June. (MarketWatch)

Germany’s manufacturing orders surged 6.4% in May, far ahead of expectations. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Iran’s oil exports have reached a five-year high, adding large volumes of discounted crude to global energy markets. (WSJ)

DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub sued New York City to block a new law that sets minimum wages for food-delivery workers. (WSJ)

The group representing employers at British Columbia ports called for binding arbitration to end a strike by longshore workers. (Canadian Press)

A strike by workers at railcar manufacturer National Steel Car halted production at the Canadian company’s Hamilton plant. (CBC)

Nagoya's port resumed operations two days after a cyberattack shut down the Japanese gateway. (Bloomberg)

ACT says orders for heavy-duty trucks in North America edged up 5% in June from a year ago, to 16,200 orders. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Independent truckers that flooded the market during heavy pandemic-driven demand are seeing business and earnings retreat. (NBC)

Trucker Canada Cartage is buying Ontario-based refrigerated carrier Cam-Scott Transport. (Today’s Trucking)

The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been unjustly detained in Russia for 100 days.

Green skills in the U.S. aren’t growing as fast as green jobs, pressuring companies to get creative to find workers to carry out the energy transition.

The Federal Reserve operates reliable payment systems for Americans to deposit paychecks and pay bills, but it hasn’t offered an instant one—yet.

As Generation Z comes of age, food and beverage companies are scrambling to attract them to their brands. Some are finding marketing is only getting them so far.

Sparsely populated workplaces are affecting corporate cultures and workers’ ambitions, leading some to step up their return-to-office mandates. But many finance chiefs are stuck in the middle.

🎧 Listen to Hari Ravichandran, CEO of cybersecurity company Aura, speak with WSJ Pro about making cybersecurity simple and accessible, and how Aura is using AI to make personal cybersecurity invisible.

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.