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Ford Aims to Build Army Truck; Railroads Sweeten Merger Application; Power Construction Costs Surge By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report

Ford Motor said it has joined the race to build the U.S. Army's newest tactical truck, a pickup that would double on the battlefield as a stealthy power bank on wheels.

Ford is pursuing the project alongside crosstown rival

General Motors, the WSJ's Sharon Terlep reports. The move comes as the Pentagon pushes automakers to put their manufacturing power toward modernizing and replenishing military hardware depleted by the Iran war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

GM is years into developing its own version

of the infantry squad vehicle, dubbed the ISV-Heavy. Military officials in recent months have begun field-testing the GM version, which is built off the heavy-duty version of the automaker's Silverado pickup.

The Army, which is looking to build about 600 of the trucks, confirmed it awarded contracts to GM, Ford and BC Customs, an off-road vehicle maker, to build prototypes for delivery next year. Under Ford's contract, it will develop a trio of prototypes for the truck project based on its F-Series Super Duty pickups.

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Number of the Day Railroads

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern stepped up their effort to convince regulators to approve their $71.5 billion merger, adding commitments to ensure the deal

will provide faster, more reliable service as promised.

The companies said the combined railroad would expand committed gateway pricing, offering fixed pricing agreements for twice as many eligible shipments. The companies also committed to grant access to another railroad at certain locations where rail options would be reduced as a result of the merger.

The new commitments came along with supplemental information requested by the Surface Transportation Board. The regulator had said in May it needed more information

to evaluate a revised application for the merger, which some customers and rivals said would increase freight prices and hurt competition.

Additionally, the railroads said customers would gain access to a new rate relief process if the merger doesn't provide benefits in a timely manner, the companies said.

Energy Infrastructure

Equipment backlogs, permitting delays, tariffs and yearslong waits to connect to the grid are pushing up construction costs for every type of power plant , as demand surges for electricity from AI data centers.

Costs for building natural-gas plants and large-scale solar and wind projects have increased more than 10% since last year, according to a Lazard report. The WSJ's Jennifer Hiller writes that these costs will work their way into utility bills. Electricity prices already rose 4% in June from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outpacing overall inflation.

Renewable-energy and battery-storage projects are expected to make up most of the near-term additions to the grid. Large-scale solar projects are getting more expensive, and the cost of adding batteries is also rising. Meanwhile, manufacturers face yearslong backlogs for turbines as the rising demand fuels huge interest in gas-fired power plants.

Grid operator PJM Interconnection aims to launch an emergency auction for power generation

to counter the threat of energy shortages from the boom in AI data-center development. (Bloomberg) In Other News Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low over the weekend

despite the pause in fighting, with daily crossings ranging between six and 12, matching levels seen late last week, according to Kpler. (WSJ) Demand for U.S. durable goods rose 0.3% in June

to $334.8 billion, following a 4% decrease in May. (WSJ) Canada's TFI International posted a quarterly profit ahead of analyst expectations , with its truckload and logistics businesses both reporting 13% sales growth, while LTL sales rose 12%. (Dow Jones Newswires) Coca-Cola said it resumed the majority of production

at its Fairlife dairy business after pausing earlier this month following a ransomware event. (Dow Jones Newswires) Philip Morris International opened a $1.2 billion manufacturing campus

in Colorado, as the tobacco company expands its Zyn portfolio to meet rising demand for nicotine pouches. (WSJ) Rocket Lab received a $266 million U.S. Space Force contract , its largest to date, for up to 18 suborbital launches, most of which will take place at a new company site in Kodiak, Alaska. (WSJ) South Korean ocean carrier HMM plans to spend about $20 billion through 2030 to expand its container fleet

and terminals business. (Journal of Commerce) War-risk insurance premiums have risen to over $10 million

for a very large crude carrier to transit the Strait of Hormuz. (Lloyd's List) Private-equity firm American Industrial Partners completed its acquisition of Honeywell's Intelligrated and Transnorm units, and will combine them with Trew to focus on warehouse automation . (DC Velocity) Daimler Truck opened a $40 million engineering hub

in Portland, Ore., with 32 bays to develop new commercial trucks. (The Oregonian) About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.