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Fleet maintenance directors and their suppliers will return to Tampa, Fla., this week to discuss ever more complicated techniques for eking out new slender margins of efficiency to keep the nation’s trucks rolling down highways longer and more smoothly.

With a federal mandate on the use of electronic onboard recorders looming over the trucking industry, U.S. carriers may be following a regulatory course similar to one that their European counterparts have been dealing with for several years.

Equity firm Audax Group on Monday announced it has acquired Phillips & Temro Industries, a manufacturer of heating, cooling and silencing products for heavy-duty truck engines. Terms were not dislosed.

Software providers Ortec and Xata Corp. have announced enhancements to Ortec Mobile, a routing and scheduling software for fleets.

Xata Corp. on Thursday reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $1.7 million, or 16 cents per share, compared to a loss of $85,000, or one cent, a year ago.

WASHINGTON — Five manufacturers are on their way toward meeting the Department of Energy’s goal of increasing a truck’s efficiency by 50% under the agency’s SuperTruck program, a DOE official said.

Ryder System said it has launched RydeSmart 3.0, the next generation of RydeSmart, its onboard telematics system.

Transportation software maker Arsenault announced that Jack Boetefuer is the company’s new CEO.

Iteris Inc., a provider of traffic management technology, said it posted a profit in its third fiscal quarter.

McLeod Software and SkyBitz Corp. have announced upgrades to their technology offerings.