Wholesale inventories in the US fell 0.5% in June, more than the 0.3% previously estimated, but increased 1.3% from a year earlier, according to the Commerce Department. Wholesaler sales fell 0.7% and factory production has slowed as more companies expect weaker demand and carefully manage inventory levels due to higher borrowing costs.

New rules under consideration by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would require accident records be kept by motor carriers for incidents involving commercial vehicles and provide them when requested by federal, state or local agencies. The plan -- which is open for public comment until Oct. 8 -- would also require White House approval before being enacted.

Foxtrot is joining forces with KeHE Distributors to serve customers at its 28 hybrid boutique-like corner stores and cafes throughout Austin, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. "KeHE's robust mix of innovative brands and customer favorites is helping us to rapidly expand our business and change how consumers perceive convenience stores," said Mitch Madoff, head of supply chain for Foxtrot.

Retailer holiday season stockups will drive imports at major US cargo ports to their highest in nearly one year, predicts the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. This follows a 22% drop in twenty-foot equivalent units during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to Global Port Tracker.

Enterprise data and generative AI tools can help procurement and supply chain organizations stay stable and resilient as they help speed up response times, reduce manual labor, increase end-to-end visibility, optimize operations and improve decision making and agility, writes Gregor Stuhler, CEO of Scoutbee. "AI can process vast amounts of data to establish patterns and predict implications light years ahead of what humans are capable of," Stuhler writes.

Companies can choose a variety of reporting structures for their food safety teams, including having the team report to the board chairperson or CEO, research and development, quality assurance or supply chain leadership, with each choice presenting both benefits and disadvantages, writes Kurt Deibel, former vice president of food safety and quality for North America at Kraft Heinz. Whatever corporate structure a company selects for their food safety team, it is crucial for them to be active participants in day-to-day operations and for the program to have a separate capital budget, Deibel writes.

All businesses tend to benefit from promoting the region where they are located. Strategies include making donations to nonprofits that support the community, forming networking groups and holding entrepreneurial events.

X's algorithm has been updated to give more exposure to post replies, videos and content from creators with subscriptions, and has doubled the time to 48 hours that a post is eligible to be shown in the main feed, per anecdotal research from X user @NFT_GOD. X also appears to be demoting posts mentioning Threads or linking to competing social media apps.

Salary transparency not only will eliminate the long-running pay disparity among genders and ethnic groups, but it will create a business environment that attracts top talent, writes Tory Clarke of Bridge Partners. But it will require policy changes, including training managers how to set equitable pay, allowing employees to discuss pay and publishing salaries during recruitment, Clarke writes.

Small-business owners are now somewhat more upbeat about US economic conditions, although sentiment remains muted compared with the period before the pandemic, according to a survey of 1,300 small companies by the National Federation of Independent Business. Hiring continues to be a challenge for some businesses, with 42% saying they had hard-to-fill job openings.

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