Road Transport vs Air Transport

Dogmovers provide Regular, Reliable road based services for your Pets to all cities and regions from North QLD to South Australia. We can also arrange combined Road and Air based services to destinations further afield or to link our regional clients with the main city airports.

We believe that in most instances transporting your Pet by Road is a less stressful option than Air Travel and to most destinations outside of the major cities, especially for larger pets, it is also cheaper. To help you understand the difference between road transport vs air transport, here are some Pros & Cons:

The advantages of Road transport

1. Our Road Transport services cover many towns outside the main cities and larger regional areas that are not serviced by the airlines, saving hours of travel to deliver or collect your pet.
2. Even if you live close to a major city, Road transport can still often save you many hours of travel to and from the airport.
3. By Road we can move Large dogs that the Airlines will sometimes not accept due to limitations at some airports.
4. Road Transport can be cheaper than air travel for some pets and destinations.
5. Road Transport does not require that you buy or hire a crate for travel, cages are built into our vehicles and floats.
6. Our own drivers are with, and responsible for, your pet for the whole journey.
7. Road Transport will take longer but we are able to check on and care for your pet during the journey.
8. Your pet is not subjected to the strange and stressful surroundings of the airport.
9. Your pet is not subjected to unusually high noise (volume and pitch) as a of result being loaded and unloaded close to jet engines.
10. Most pets are used to travelling by car, and are very relaxed travelling in our vehicles & floats.
11. Dogs are routinely walked and toileted during the trip and always have water available.
12. Road transport alongside other animals can be a positive social experience for most dogs.
13. Your Pet has special needs that cannot be catered for during air transport.
14. Whilst many clients are initially anxious about how their pets will handle the trip, they are constantly surprised at how happy and relaxed they are when arriving at their destination after interstate Road Transport.

When is Air Freight a better option

1. International Travel or especially long distances that make Road transport uneconomical.
2. Your Pet has special needs that cannot be catered for during road transport.
3. You have tight timeframes which cannot be catered to by Road Transport.
4. Your pet is unsocialised and cannot be handled by other people.
5. Your pet is aggressive, cannot be handled or walked and must be crated for the trip. (Although, in these circumstances many airlines would also decline to accept your dog at the point of departure)

Specific issues to consider regarding your Pet and travel stress.

Successful, safe and appropriate pet transport requires that your pet be healthy, reasonably social and generally stress free.

Pet transporters have limited ability to deal with your Pets specific health, stress and social issues especially if they are not aware of them. For nearly all dogs transport by road is a positive social experience But for dogs with chronic (including undiagnosed) health conditions, social anxiety when away from their owners, in crates, with new people or around other animals, Pet Transport, by any means can be more stressful, dangerous or life threatening.

While a minor amount of stress can be acceptable for most pets in those with BOAS or other chronic health conditions stress, especially separation anxiety (from their owners) can quickly become life threatening. Dogs fearful of other animals or people may act more erratically increasing the risk of injury or escape during handling.

pet transporters cannot assess the specific risks for your pet before collecting them and it is therefore imperative that you, the owner assess these risks and openly and honestly discuss them with your transporter.

Specific issues to consider regarding Air Freight

1. Avoid sending young Puppies and Kittens on Journeys requiring multiple flights with stopovers unless your organising Pet Transport Agent will be in a position to board, feed and care for your pet if a connecting flight is missed.
2. When calculating the length of time of a flight, allow for the travel to the airport, pre departure time (usually 2 hours) unloading time and travel to the final destination. A short flight of just 1 hour may require your pet to be crated for a minimum of 6 or more hours. This is significantly more for longer or adjoining flights. Consider using a Pet Freight Handling Agency with specialised services or a transit lounge if your pet needs to swap flights mid journey rather than booking directly with the airline.
3. Once Lodged, by you or your Pet Transport Agency, your Pet will pass through the hands of many Freight Company or Airline staff and baggage handlers. Whilst they will endeavour to take good care of your pet, they do not have any responsibility for or ability to handle your pet or the conditions it is in within its crate between lodging and collection. Specifically, they are not permitted to open your pets crate to clean or care for your pet. It is therefore very important that your pet is not fed before the trip and is given ample opportunity to toilet directly before lodging.
4. If lodging yourself rather than through a local agent allow for the possibility that you will be contacted to return to the airport up to the time of departure to clean the crate if your pet has gone to the toilet since lodging. Airline staff are not permitted to open or clean the crate and baggage handlers may refuse to load a pet in a dirtied crate.
5. Double check the size & weight of your pet. It is very common to arrive at the airport for lodgement and find that the wrong sized crate, or no crate, is waiting or that additional payment is required. This can happen due to misunderstandings about the crate price being included in the freight price, your pets size being initially misquoted or because your young pet has grown fast since you booked. If the Crate is not big enough the airline will refuse to accept the pet for lodgement.