Canadian authorities are moving to end a trucker-led demonstration that has jammed a crucial U.S.-Canada trade corridor and hobbled automotive assembly lines. The city of Windsor, Ontario, is seeking a court order to start removing demonstrators at the Ambassador Bridge, the WSJ’s Paul Vieira and Jacquie McNish report, as big auto makers start suspending production on both sides of the border because of parts shortages. Commercial vehicles are being rerouted to a crossing more than 60 miles north of the Detroit-Windsor border point. The pullback at auto plants is the first sign of economic fallout from the protests, which were originally organized by truckers and their supporters and have tied up the capital city of Ottawa. Clearing the crossing may not end the broader standoff. Canadian and U.S. officials worry that continuing protests could spread to other key corridors and further strangle trade flows.

Officials are bracing for disruptions from trucker protests to spread to the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security is warning that a convoy of truckers protesting Covid-19 vaccination mandates could make its way across the country, the WSJ’s Sadie Gurman reports, potentially blocking roads in several major cities and even disrupting Super Bowl Sunday in Los Angeles. The department says plans that include driving from Southern California to Washington, D.C., so far are only sketchy and appear “to be purely aspirational.” But the online discussions suggest the fervor of protests in Canada is resonating with some truckers and could tie up some cities. Major trucking groups say they sympathize with the opposition to vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the border but won’t support disruptions. Todd Spencer, the head of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said the public’s “patience will wear thin” if demonstrations continue to hit commerce.

There are faint signs of relief at the beleaguered shipping terminals in Southern California. The backup of container ships that recently swelled to more than 100 vessels is receding, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes, in the first signal in three months of easing congestion at the country’s epicenter for supply-chain backups. The number of ships waiting for berths at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remains staggering by historical standards, with the Marine Exchange of Southern California reporting 78 vessels in the queue earlier this week. Still, that’s down from a peak of 109 a month ago as shipping lines reportedly cancel some sailings ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Operators also are reporting the flow of goods through terminals is improving. The rush is hardly over, but the ports may have some breathing room before the next peak season begins.

Girl Scouts are getting a crash course in supply-chain management. Thin Mints, Samoas and other varieties of popular cookies have joined the growing list of goods coming up short, the WSJ’s Rachel Wolfe reports, leaving adult customers angry, the children handling the boxes frustrated and the organization’s regional councils facing a hit to their revenue. The problem goes back to the source, where a supplier is facing production delays, leaving the young Scouts on the front lines to offer apologies for the supply-chain snarls. One 10-year-old girl is telling her customers, "Being the popularest cookies means that they run out way too quickly." Like retailers and supermarkets, scouts are offering alternatives, including pushing shoppers to less-popular shortbread Trefoils. They're also raising prices and citing supply and demand mismatches. Not everyone enjoys the economics lesson. "It's boring," one fifth-grader says.

Inflation in the U.S. reached a four-decade high last month, growing at a 7.5% annual rate. (WSJ)

OPEC says stockpiles of oil in the largest consuming nations slumped in December, as crude supply lags behind rising global demand. (WSJ)

A study shows China bought none of the $200 billion in U.S. goods promised under an agreement with the Trump administration. (MarketWatch)

Quarterly sales revenue at Coca-Cola and PepsiCo jumped as higher prices offset increasing commodities and shipping expenses. (WSJ)

Consumer-goods supplier Unilever says rising costs will sharply reduce its profit margins this year. (WSJ)

Uber’s chief financial officer said the company expects to be cash flow positive by the end of this year. (WSJ)

A California regulatory agency is suing Tesla over alleged racial discrimination and harassment. (WSJ)

Siemens is selling its mail and parcel handling automation business to German technology group Koerber. (Reuters)

Sherwin-Williams is expanding paint production and distribution capacity in North Carolina. (Supply Chain Dive)

Walmart wants suppliers to use RFID tags to track inventory for more goods. (Forbes)

Norwegian car carrier Höegh Autoliners swung to a $140 million net profit in the fourth quarter as revenue grew by a third. (Lloyd’s List)

Swedish tanker operator Concordia Maritime lost $8.9 million on an operating basis last year. (ShippingWatch)

Israeli shipping line Zim is chartering 13 container ships from Navios Partners. (TradeWinds)

Supply-chain technology provider Descartes is buying customs filing software specialist NetCHB for $40 million. (Modern Distribution Management)

French logistics visibility company Shippeo is expanding operations in North America. (Journal of Commerce)

Truckload carrier Covenant Logistics is buying hazardous materials specialist AAT Carriers. (MarketWatch)

Truckload carrier US Xpress reported a $5.1 million fourth quarter operating loss as revenue rose 16.7%. (Dow Jones Newswires)

U.K.-based airport ground handler John Menzies rejected the latest unsolicited takeover bid from Agility arm NAS Holding. (Air Cargo News)

An Interstate exchange in Fort Lee, N.J., was named the worst bottleneck in the U.S. for the fourth straight year. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @pdberger. and @LydsOneal. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.