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Not long ago, getting rid of used oil was a problem for fleets. These days, for some fleets used oil is now a profit center.

Truck tonnage rose 3.5% in April over year-ago levels, American Trucking Associations reported, continuing a pattern of modest increases that mirror the overall U.S. economy.

The nation’s heavy-duty truck fleet grew in the first quarter for only the second time over the past 30 months, climbing 0.37% to 3.53 million vehicles registered on March 31.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Transportation companies are using automation and data management technology to streamline procedures that used to be complex or labor intensive, trucking and logistics leaders said.

Trucking managers in information technology and finance will meet jointly in Tampa, Fla., next month to explore opportunities for efficiency improvement through IT and strategies for handling significant tax changes expected at the end of 2012.

Bigger trucks and a field study of the hours-of-service restart provision are among items American Trucking Associations said it wants included in any highway bill that emerges from the House-Senate conference committee weighing the legislation.

MIAMI BEACH — Volvo Trucks said it intends to introduce a liquefied natural gas engine for its heavy-duty over-the-road vehicles in 2014, which company officials hailed as the next step in the industry’s quickly evolving move toward natural gas as a primary fuel.

The national average price for a gallon of retail diesel dipped below $4 last week for the first time since Feb. 20, after pump prices countrywide declined 4.8 cents, according to the Department of Energy.

Vehicle components maker Delphi Automotive said it has entered “exclusive negotiations” to purchase FCI Group’s Motorized Vehicles Division for 765 million euro (about $972 million).