Norfolk Southern is trying to put the financial impact of last year’s toxic train derailment behind the carrier. The freight railroad agreed to pay $600 million to settle lawsuits brought by individuals and businesses in connection with the incident, the WSJ’s Esther Fung reports, the latest in a string of outlays Norfolk Southern is making to pay for the impact of the high-profile derailment. The accident led to scrutiny of Norfolk Southern’s safety practices, with costs associated with the derailment surpassing $1 billion. Before the settlement, the railroad had been making payments to area residents and businesses. The impact on Norfolk Southern’s finances is significant. In preliminary first-quarter results, the railroad said it earned a profit of 23 cents a share on railway revenue of $3 billion. Excluding costs including those associated with the East Palestine settlement and efforts to trim its management ranks, earnings were $2.26 a share.

The technology world’s drive toward artificial intelligence is starting to upend semiconductor supply chains. Tech giant Google is preparing a new chip called Axion that can handle everything from simple web functions to big data analysis. The WSJ’s Miles Kruppa and Asa Fitch report the new chip adds to Google’s longtime efforts to develop new computing resources, beginning with specialized semiconductors used for AI work. Analysts say the chip efforts promise to reduce Google’s reliance on outside vendors and bring it into competition with longtime suppliers such as Intel and Nvidia. The strategy adds to a growing upheaval in semiconductor supply chains under pressure from the need for greater computing power as well as the geopolitical tug-of-war over chip development, production and distribution. Google competitors Amazon and Microsoft have also poured money into making their own chips as the AI boom has intensified demand for computing resources.

U.S. forecasters expect coal exports to fall 6% this year following last month’s bridge collapse in Baltimore. (WSJ)

A veteran Boeing engineer told federal regulators the aircraft maker dismissed quality and safety concerns during troubled production of its 787 jets. (WSJ)

Boeing delivered 24 737 MAX jets in March, capping the airplane maker’s slowest start to the year since the pandemic. (WSJ)

The U.S. Postal Service is seeking to raise the price of a stamp for the fourth time since the start of 2023. (WSJ)

Fashion retailer Esprit’s Belgium subsidiary filed for insolvency, citing high energy and logistics costs. (WSJ)

Chinese buyers are shaking global wheat markets by canceling major shipments from the U.S. and Australia. (Nikkei Asia)

Alibaba plans to provide more subsidies to Chinese brands and merchants to entice them to sell more goods overseas. (South China Morning Post)

Xeneta says the closure of the Port of Baltimore hasn’t led to an increase in container freight rates. (gCaptain)

Mediterranean Shipping’s vessel-buying binge is boosting ship values and raising charter rates. (TradeWinds)

Freight forwarder Flexport is suing customer Giti Tire for $12.3 million over what it says is are unpaid detention fees. (The Loadstar)

Imported vehicles, largely Chinese electric cars, are piling up at European ports amid faltering retail demand and a shortage of truck drivers. (Financial Times)

Car carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen struck a three-year agreement worth more than $1 billion with an unnamed premium automaker. (MarineLink)

Norway’s Höegh Autoliners set $920 million in new financing, most of it for fleet additions. (Splash 247)

Danish shipping firm DFDS is buying the international transport network of Turkey’s Ekol Logistics for $277 million. (Reuters)

Industrial parts supplier Grainger focuses its distribution strategy on shipping complete orders in a single delivery. (Industrial Distribution)

Sam’s Club business is building a 1 million-square-foot distribution center outside Jacksonville, Fla. (Jacksonville Daily Record)

A survey shows 57% of retailers and consumer packaged-goods companies plan to invest in AI in the coming years but most investments will be small. (DC Velocity)

Instant Pot Brands named former Newell Brands operations executive Rudy Sumarli as executive vice president of supply chain and research and development. (Supply Chain Dive)

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.