The field of disruption-focused digital freight startups is narrowing. New York-based Transfix is dropping out of the load-matching business and selling the freight brokerage operation to trucker and warehousing provider NFI Industries. The WSJ’s Paul Berger writes that Transfix, part of a clutch of tech-focused startups looking to upend the freight market, will now reset itself as a software provider, with NFI as its first client. The sale extends an upheaval in a sector that had been fueled by seemingly boundless optimism and investor funding. Financial backing generally has tightened more recently, however, and declining freight demand has buffeted the business. Rival Convoy collapsed last year and Uber Freight signaled with its move into transportation management that profitable growth prospects in the transactional business of simply matching loads to trucks was limited. Transfix CEO Jonathan Salama says the company will keep more than 100 employees.

British grocer Waitrose purposely raised its supply chain costs and the retailer got more sales out of the change. The company signed onto a program to begin paying cocoa farmers more as part of an effort to end child labor and slavery in the business. The WSJ’s H. Claire Brown reports Waitrose quietly added a label to its store-brand chocolate bars while raising the price about 10%. Sales shot up by 43% year over year in the week after the launch, and by an average of 34% in the first six weeks. The result suggests that consumers are willing to pay a “sustainability premium” for products, although the amount of that premium remains under debate. Helen Carter, a supply chain expert at consultants Action Sustainability, says while some chocolate companies still want to keep prices as low as possible, others are starting to see sustainability as a “differentiator.” 

• Volvo Cars is rolling out a supply-chain tracker to allow customers to identify the source of raw materials in batteries for electric vehicles. (WSJ)
• An investment banking firm is acquiring bankrupt textile recycler Renewcell. (Sourcing Journal)
• The International Air Transport Association projects production of sustainable aviation fuel will triple this year. (Air Cargo Next)
   

Orders for manufactured goods in the U.S. rose for the third straight month. (MarketWatch)

Sales of new passenger vehicles in the U.S. edged up in May in the fourth straight monthly increase. (MarketWatch)

Apollo Global Management will invest $11 billion for a 49% equity stake in Intel’s Fab 34 chip factory in Ireland. (WSJ)

Tesla’s vehicle sales in China rose 17% last month as overall sales of electric passenger cars rose 35%. (WSJ)

A.P. Moller-Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc says moves by shippers to rush shipments due to disruptions could exacerbate container shipping delays. (Financial Times)

Linerlytica says backlogs at Asian ports have spread to terminals in Malaysia, Shanghai and Qingdao, China. (The Loadstar)

The International Maritime Organization toughened rules requiring ocean carriers to report containers lost at sea. (Maritime Executive)

India’s Adani Ports struck a 30-year concession to operate a container terminal at Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam port. (Port Technology)

Walmart is testing a tool to give the retailer’s suppliers better information on customer behavior. (Chain Store Age)

U.K. pharmacists say they are coping with worsening shortages of crucial medicines. (Logistics Manager)

The Philippines, the world's top rice importer, is slashing tariffs on the staple food to ease the country's inflation. (Nikkei Asia)

Defunct trucker Yellow may put its remaining vacant properties into a real estate investment trust that could raise money for creditors. (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway is suing the city of Gunter, Texas, in a fight to build a 900-acre North Dallas Logistics Center. (Dallas Morning News)

Freighter operator Air Transport Services Group named Mike Berger CEO as Joe Hete moves to executive chairman. (Air Cargo News)

Microsoft and German supply-chain technology provider Arvato plan to jointly develop a “self-managing warehouse of the future.” (DC Velocity)

Radiant Logistics acquired time-critical delivery specialist Cascade Transportation. (Dow Jones Newswires)

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.