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As rock singer and icon Meatloaf would say, two out of three ain't bad. U.S. railroads now have boosted traffic two straight weeks after posting a decline in 2008's first week.

During the week ending Jan. 19, the roads originated 325,415 carloads, up 5.6 percent, and 230,771 intermodal loads, up 3 percent compared with traffic from the same week in 2007, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Through 2008's first three weeks, U.S. railroads boosted carloads 2 percent to 933,292 units. However, intermodal volume totaling 632,850 units remains down 2.7 percent year over year. Total volume reached an estimated 96.1 billion ton-miles, representing a 2.9 percent gain compared with volume from the same 2007 period.

Canadian railroads had a stellar third week, too. During the period ending Jan. 19, their carloads totaling 76,007 units rose 1.3 percent and intermodal volume totaling 50,330 containers and trailers jumped 13 percent compared with last year's totals.

Through three weeks, Canadian railroads originated 217,120 carloads, up 1.3 percent, and 134,828 containers and trailers, up 12.3 percent year over year.

On a combined cumulative-volume basis through three weeks, reporting U.S. and Canadian railroads originated 1.2 million carloads, up 1.9 percent, and 767,674 intermodal loads, down 0.3 percent compared with totals from the same 2007 period.