Trucking: How much do you charge a mile for ltl frieght?, hot shot business, demo program

Question
Hello, just looking on starting a hot shot business and not sure how everything works. I went on getloaded.com and looked on their demo program, but wasn't sure how the loads work. Do you bid a price or do the brokers with the loads already have a price that they have set. If you have to bid what do you bid for a ltl load (dually with a 35' flat bed)? Do you charge by mile? Wieght? or a combination?Thanks

Answer
Chris, Generally a broker will offer a load or ltl at a set price to see if he can find a qualified carrier.  You just need to decide if the offer is fair and can be run at a profit.  Could be flat rate or mileage.
Aside from the usual stuff you need to do to start and run a business, here are suggestions for a general education on the "hot shot" or expedited industry.
Try some of the industry websites such as these:
http://www.expresstrucking.com/index.html
http://www.expeditersonline.com/
http://www.expedite.org/ema-home.html
Best of luck.
Jim