Remote may be coming to the warehouse. Trucker ArcBest and logistics provider NFI Industries led a $42 million funding round for Phantom Auto’s remote-control forklift software, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Jennifer Smith writes, with plans to deploy thousands of the robot trucks in the coming years. Logistics providers hope the technology will expand their potential labor force at a time when workers are stuck at home or living far away and hiring and retention is becoming more difficult and expensive. It also paves the way for logistics firms to expand operating hours by having workers in different time zones operate cargo-handling equipment at night. Companies insist robots aren’t intended to replace workers so much as they are needed to satisfy surging demand. But they could bring a lot more flexibility to labor-intensive operations at warehouses and loading docks now firmly tied to the availability of workers.

A federally-managed supply chain for Covid-19 materials is expanding as efforts to contain the fast-spreading Omicron variant pick up steam. The Biden administration is rolling out plans to make 400 million N95 masks available across the country, the WSJ’s Sabrina Siddiqui reports, as Washington’s response to a nationwide surge in Covid-19 cases takes in more healthcare devices. The masks will start to be available at pharmacies and community health centers late next week and will be sourced from the Strategic National Stockpile, the medical-equipment safety net that was expanded in the early months of the pandemic. The government also this week began taking orders for at-home rapid tests. The free distribution through postal networks may be the simplest part of a sweeping supply-chain effort to produce personal protective equipment. Some public-health efforts say that effort has moved too slowly to get ahead of the new variant.

China closed some border gates late last year to keep out Covid, but that also left produce to rot in trucks. In a video report, the WSJ looks at how restrictions like these and tighter rules at some Chinese ports, the gateways for goods headed to the rest of the world, could cascade into delays in the global supply chain.

The International Energy Agency projects global oil demand will exceed pre-pandemic levels this year. (WSJ)

Consumer prices in the U.K. rose at the fastest annual rate in nearly three decades last month. (WSJ)

Inflation in Canada reached its highest level in December since 1991. (WSJ)

Procter & Gamble’s quarterly sales rose 6% as higher prices for its goods offset rising freight and raw-materials costs. (WSJ)

Consumer-goods supplier Unilever is effectively walking away from its plan to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer-healthcare business. (WSJ)

ProLogis says the average occupancy rate of its warehouses was 97.4% in the fourth quarter. (Dow Jones Newswires)

The White House will allocate about $14 billion to more than 500 projects at U.S. ports and waterways. (Associated Press)

The Biden administration named Robin Hutcheson deputy administrator and acting head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (Dow Jones Newswires)

The Teamsters union is petitioning for an organizing election​ for truck drivers who work for XPO Logistics at Southern California ports and railyards. (Dow Jones Newswires)

IKEA says it cut emissions across its supply chain by about 6% last year despite rising sales. (Reuters)

India is offering more than $10 billion in incentives to lure semiconductor manufacturers. (Nikkei Asia)

Shanghai’s government is offering to subsidize investment to bring semiconductor suppliers to the city. (South China Morning Post)

Raw-materials supplier Fiber Industries will spend $30 million to expand production in South Carolina. (Sourcing Journal)

Fastenal’s sales increased sharply during 2021 as the industrial supplier closed branches and expanded online capabilities. (Industrial Distribution)

Alphaliner says scrapping of container ships fell to a record low last year. (Lloyd’s List)

Two unions are taking steps to strike against BNSF Railway over new work rules. (La Junta Tribune Democrat)

A University of Akron study found that women in supply chain teams are more collaborative than men. (Logistics Management)

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

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