mining and trading can get boring really fast, but some like it. I didnt :p
for mining you definately need a corp or if you want to mine 'solo' you need at least 2 or 3 accounts to do it efficently (its normal for eve players to have more than one account ... avg 3 accounts for a player).
good ship for mining endgame hulk ... first train up to a 'mining cruiser' for your race (the one that gives you bonuses on mining yield) and then mining barge like the retriever. after that hulk.
For hauling a 'industrial' ship would do if you have 2 accounts (pick one from your race) > endgame orca for hauling and boosting. so if your cargo is full > drop it in space > other account/player picks it up with the hauler and brings it to station.
If you want to mine solo with one account you should get back to station if your cargo is full and unload it. yes you can 'jetcan' but people will 'flip' the can (steal from you and put it in their own container to hope that you will loot it back so that they can blow you up). so dont do it.
a good mining guide is I think 'haladas mining guide' http://www.eve-wiki.net/?title=Haladas_Mining_Guide
there should be also a better pdf version out there (v3). Also there should be a pdf beginners guide out there, but I cant find it.
edit: yes there are many guys out there that want to blow up your ship, so be carefull ... so again DO NOT loot from things that are yellow and DO NOT shoot/target a player < if you follow this you wont die silly for a while :)
edit2: also press 'escape' > 'general settings' > 'inflight' > 'auto target back' > set it to '0 targets' so that you dont accidently target another player which is targeting you and shoot him (they like to do this) and then you will get blown up by 'concord' (police) and lose your ship.
