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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.wsj.com/articles/todays-top-supply-chain-and-logistics-news-from-wsj-1520848637\nToday’s Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ\nDelivering up-to-the minute news, analysis, interviews and explanatory journalism on logistics, supply-chain management, e-commerce and more\nPaul Page\nBiographyPaul Page\n@PaulPage\npaul.page@wsj.com\nMarch 12, 2018 5:57 am ET\nSign up: With one click, get this newsletter delivered to your inbox.\nU.S. port officials are raising warnings over new trade restrictions as American allies and pro-trade lawmakers are looking at how to limit the impact of the tariffs. Executives at ports in the Pacific Northwest and Charleston, S.C., say escalating retaliation over the Trump administration steel and aluminum levies could endanger shipping volumes and jobs, WSJ Logistics Report’s Erica E. Phillips writes. Both regions are major gateways for exports, and experts say industries including agriculture and automobile manufacturing could be hurt as costs of raw materials rise and other countries respond with their own barriers to U.S. goods. European and Japanese officials have been meeting with their American counterparts, the WSJ’s Emre Peker and William Mauldin report, but haven’t gotten any clarity on major issues, including how to seek exemptions to the tariffs. As threats of tit-for-tat responses fly between the countries, Japan’s concerns go beyond steel: the country’s top trade official says the disputes “could have a bad effect on the entire multilateral trading system.”\nTrucking companies are hiring and new workers are rushing in. Fleet operators boosted payrolls at the fastest pace in nearly three years last month, WSJ Logistics Report’s Jennifer Smith writes, adding 5,600 jobs in a push to keep up with unwavering freight shipping demand at the start of the year. The jobs growth in trucking is part of a broader surge in overall hiring and confidence in the national economy that brought some 800,000 workers back into the job market. That may signal that the ongoing shortage in available drivers is dissipating, and that more road-hauling capacity is in the pipeline. Better pay may be drawing some of those new drivers, and shippers appear to be footing the bill for some of the higher wage costs. Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. and Saia Inc. report strong pricing growth in their less-than-truckload business, and spot-market rates in the truckload business are up by double digits from a year ago.\nCompetition for cargo may have brought unionized dockworkers and employers at U.S. East and Gulf coast ports back to the bargaining table. The two sides are reviving their stalled contract talks, WSJ Logistics Report’s Jennifer Smith writes, after the two sides reached some broad understanding on issues around automation that led the International Longshoremen’s Association to walk out last December. But the talks are being rekindled after pressure from retail and manufacturing groups, who warned that companies may divert shipments from the region to avert possible labor strife. The fight for cargo has taken on more urgency since the opening of a larger Panama Canal that allows bigger ships to reach the East Coast from Asia. A recent report by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association said strong container volume growth at U.S. East Coast ports last year outpaced the West Coast, and that gives dockworkers and terminal operators a bigger stake in keeping talks going.\nBMW vehicles being readied for export from South Carolina’s Port of Charleston.. Photo: Bloomberg News\nPlans for delivery drones in the U.S. are preparing to take off. At least 10 government-approved test programs for various drone initiatives are slated to begin by May, the WSJ’s Andy Pasztor reports, potentially putting commercial drone delivery on track to start limited package deliveries within months. The momentum is stepping up after the U.S. has lagged behind other countries, and there are still hurdles to overcome. But at a conference on unmanned aircraft last week in Baltimore, Federal Aviation Administration officials said repeatedly the “FAA is open for business” and anxious to get pilot programs moving. Amazon.com Inc. is a major industry driver behind the test programs, and one Amazon official hopes approvals can be secured before the end of the year. Several aerospace and technology companies are trying to get past concerns over integrating drones into air traffic-control systems by creating their own, separate systems for managing the vehicles at low altitudes.\n“ There’s a lot of freight in the system. ”\n—Eric Starks, chief executive of transportation research firm FTR.\nNumber of the Day\nEstimated year-over-year growth in container import volume at major U.S. ports, according to the Global Port Tracker report.\nConstruction companies say faster approval of projects is spurring a hiring surge in the industry. (WSJ)\nCanada’s unemployment rate edged down in February to a 10-year low. (WSJ)\nThe U.K.’s manufacturing sector recorded its ninth straight month of growth in January. (WSJ)\nIntel Corp. is considering offering to buy Broadcom Ltd. in a bid to forestall a takeover attempt by rival Qualcomm Inc. (WSJ)\nTakeover talks between agricultural conglomerates Bunge Ltd. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. have stalled. (WSJ)\nWaymo will test its autonomous-truck technology in Georgia with fellow Alphabet Inc. company Google. (TechCrunch)\nU.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan says Congress will tackle infrastructure spending in multiple pieces of legislation rather than a single bill. (The Hill)\nAuto parts supplier Denso Corp. is increasing its stake in chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. , as it boosts capabilities in autonomous car technology. (Automotive News)\nRockwell Collins Inc. is closing an aviation parts factory in Tucson and laying off 400 workers. (Arizona Daily Star)\nNordstrom Inc. bought digital retail startups BevyUp and MessageYes. (CNBC)\nE-commerce demand is fueling a booming industrial real estate market in the St. Louis region. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)\nSpot prices on major east-west shipping lanes are spiraling downward. (Lloyd’s Loading List)\nOrient Overseas Container Lines revenue rose 16% in 2017 to $5.5 billion on a 12% gain in revenue per box. (Seatrade Maritime)\nThe Georgia and Virginia ports authorities will collaborate on planned rail connections. (Journal of Commerce)\nNavios Maritime Containers raised $30 million in a private share placement it plans to use for vessel acquisitions. (Splash 247)\nMack Trucks raised its outlook for industry-wide heavy-duty truck orders this year to 280,000 vehicles. (Fleet Owner)\nOld Dominion Freight Line will name a leader outside the Congdon family for the first time in ODFL’s 86-year history. (Winston-Salem Journal)\nLufthansa Cargo will start charging customers for processing paper air waybills. (Air Cargo News)\nCalifornia’s almond exports were up 20% in January from a year ago. (Sacramento Bee)\nPaul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him at @PaulPage, and follow the WSJ Logistics Report team:@jensmithWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.\nWrite to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com"