Electric-truck maker Nikola appears to be at a crucial turning point in its business. The company just failed to get shareholder support for its proposal to raise badly needed backing by issuing more stock shares. The WSJ’s Bob Tita says the vote increases the pressure on the struggling business as it tries to raise cash to help start production of its hydrogen fuel-cell electric trucks. Nikola plans to start making the trucks this fall. But its cash balance of $121.1 million at the end of the first quarter was about a quarter of what it held at the end of 2021. Other electric-vehicle startups are slogging through cash crunches as they confront high production costs and ongoing losses from low-volume sales. Nikola faces an added challenge as it tries to develop hydrogen infrastructure. The company adjourned its annual shareholders meeting until July 6 and will attempt to round up more votes for its plan in the meantime.

• Schneider National will start using its first electric Freightliner trucks on regional routes in Southern California. (Heavy Duty Trucking)
• General Motors says its future electric vehicles will use the same charging hardware used by Tesla, effectively endorsing the plug technology as the industry standard. (WSJ)

Resetting global steel supply chains is proving easier said than done. President Biden is pushing for a plan that would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports based on how much greenhouse gases are emitted in production. The WSJ’s Yuka Hayashi reports that the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum would initially apply to the European Union countries before expanding to other allies later. If successful, the plan could alter the global trade for industrial materials as advantages shift across borders. So far, however, the U.S. and EU can’t agree on how to design the new system. EU officials insist it should be based on the bloc’s own newly approved plan to impose tariffs on imported materials based on the price of carbon paid by domestic producers. The levy aims to protect European manufacturers facing high costs of climate measures against cheap imports.

• India is seeking an exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs in exchange for removing some levies on U.S. agricultural goods. (Reuters)

A robust U.S. construction market is reaching across the sector’s supply chains. Construction excavators have become a hot item in the market, the WSJ’s Bob Tita reports, as companies including Deere, Caterpillar and CNH Industrial expand or upgrade their models of the earth-moving machines that function as jack-of-all-trades at construction sites. Building and infrastructure projects are driving historic demand for the machines, with sales in North America rising 23% last year over 2021. Construction spending has been growing strongly since a dip early in the pandemic, with Census Bureau figures showing spending rose about 4% from January to April this year. That’s fueling demand for excavators, which have become sales engines for companies like Deere. Off-Highway Research projects sales will rise another 5% this year, boosted by construction of electric vehicle battery plants and other nonresidential construction.

• A survey tracking the number of construction cranes in use shows commercial projects slipping while residential work is growing. (New York Times) 

The push for electrification is fueling a rush for copper. The non-precious metal is critical for electric vehicles, windmills and even the power grid. Electric vehicles require four times as much copper as gas-fueled cars. With a shortage looming, WSJ explains in a video report why copper is crucial to the global economy, and how its availability threatens a green-tech transition.

Initial U.S. unemployment claims jumped last week to a nearly two-year high. (MarketWatch)

Wildfire smoke drifting from Canada deep into the U.S. has boosted demand for N95 masks. (WSJ)

A federal appeals court ruled warehouse workers can sue their employer over offensive music in the workplace. (WSJ)

A judge approved a Serta Simmons’ debt restructuring plan that turns control of the company over to its top lenders. (WSJ)

Container ships are facing widespread delays in arrivals and departures at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach amid ongoing dockworker job actions. (Bloomberg)

Container volumes at China’s ports increased 4.8% in the first four months of the year from last year. (Port Technology)

CMA CGM took minority stakes in two container terminals in Spain operated by Cosco Shipping Ports. (Splash 247)

Port facilities operator Enstructure took over management of the Port of Wilmington, Del.’s cargo terminals from GT USA. (Journal of Commerce)

Semiconductor equipment sales to China plummeted 23% in the first quarter. (South China Morning Post)

Julie Su, the Biden administration nominee to lead the Labor Department, told lawmakers she doesn’t intend to seek a national version of California’s AB5 trucker law. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Nevada’s governor vetoed a state measure aimed at regulating the length of freight trains. (Progressive Railroading)

Industrial supplier Fastenal’s sales jumped 10.2% in May from a year ago. (Industrial Distribution)

A skills shortage is threatening to slow the shift to a green economy, as more young people are turning up their noses at ‘dirty’ mining jobs.

Many homeowners aren’t giving up their low mortgage rates, squeezing inventory available for sale. 

Amazon is using AI to screen items for damages at its largest warehouses before orders are shipped to customers. 

Here’s what CFOs are reading this summer.  

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.