Boeing aerospace union months into first full contract talks in 14 years

Copper stockpiles grow in US warehouses as buyers race to beat tariffs

The Wall Street Journal’s Logistics Report newsletter for October 2, 2026 carried a range of reporting across labor, commodities, automotive, energy, and technology. Edited by Mark R. Long, the edition included a pull quote from the union representing Boeing’s aerospace engineers and technicians, which is months into its first full contract negotiations in 14 years; the newsletter did not elaborate on the contract talks beyond the timing.

The same edition reported that tons of copper piled up in US warehouses as tariff uncertainty drove buyers to snap up the metal to avoid paying higher prices later, according to BMO Capital Markets.

The newsletter also tracked a shift in the US auto market. American car buyers are rediscovering smaller vehicles and stepping back from some big SUVs as sticker prices and fuel costs rise, Ryan Felton and Christopher Otts reported. General Motors posted a big rise in sales of its small SUVs in the third quarter, while sales of the Hyundai Elantra sedan jumped 18% and Toyota Motor’s Corolla is sharply up this year. All three carry sticker prices starting below $25,000.

By contrast, GM recorded declines in hulking SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, while Jeep’s Grand Cherokee sales declined by 30%. Overall, US new-vehicle sales are expected to dip slightly in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to car-shopping firm Edmunds.

Just as US buyers appear to be rediscovering smaller cars, BMW, Audi and other European carmakers hungry for growth are looking to revive sales with a new generation of supersized luxury SUVs in America, Stephen Wilmot reported.

The edition also reported on Google’s Suncatcher project. A prototype satellite containing four of Google’s AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, was launched by SpaceX on Thursday, the beginning of a year-long experiment testing whether TPUs can survive in orbit, Rebecca Cadenhead reported. The company hopes the project will someday allow it to build an orbital data center with thousands of interconnected satellites, fueled by the sun’s energy. Google designed the satellite in partnership with Planet Labs. It is equipped with solar panels and will circle Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit, exposing it to sunlight around the clock.

The newsletter led with the global diesel market, reporting that it has “never been under so much pressure” because wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are blocking shipments from regions that normally supply almost a third of world exports. The supply crunch has sent diesel prices surging in the US and around the world, squeezing businesses, farmers and households, and has prompted the Trump administration to consider restrictions or an outright ban on US diesel exports to curb domestic prices. Analysts warned that US export limits would have a “potentially catastrophic impact” on global supplies. Matthew Dalton explained how the market reached its current state, why refiners cannot simply produce more fuel, what US export limits would do, and what would bring prices down.

The newsletter also previewed this week’s podcast episode, which examines America’s effort over much of the past decade to reduce its trade and economic dependence on China — a task that, the newsletter reported, is proving difficult — and how data centers grapple with becoming military targets. New episodes are released every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon.