Freighting to Regional airports

[longirostris]

A question for the members of the forum, particularly members who live in a regional centre who have recently freighted animals to or from an interstate destination. How difficult has the shipping process become with respect to your shipment. I am finding that Qantas are making the process harder and harder (Covid 19 is the BS excuse) and in particular they have people in their freight area that don't know how to ship anything once another airline is included in the transhipment process. Even worse are these so called pet freight specialists who can't seem to get a small container of dragon lizards from Sydney down to Moruya on the south coast of NSW. I have one company that says they can't do it and I have another company that can do it (so much for the ridiculous company that says it cant be done) but they want $350 for the total shipment from Cairns to Moruya which is the same amount of money as the animals I am trying to get shipped actually cost. WTF is wrong with these morons. I can get crickets shipped from Brisbane to my home in Narooma, (which is a further 50 kilometers south of Moruya airport) next morning delivery but I can't get Qantas to ship from Cairns to Moruya AT ALL, so I am told, unless I pay ridiculous freight rates. NO WONDER PEOPLE DONT WANT TO SELL ANYTHING INTERSTATE, it just isn't worth the drama, permit applications, packing, driving to airports, screwing around trying to sort out freight for incompetent morons that are supposed to be freight experts and in the business of providing the freight. Looks like I am going to have to drive to Sydney or Canberra to pick up my lizards, 7-8 hour roundtrip to Canberra or 12 hours plus to Sydney. Worst of all is nobody really even gives a crap. So damned frustrating.

 

[Nero Egernia]

Wow, been a while since I logged in here. The site has changed so much!

I find that air freight tends to be virtually impossible to organize in the current state of things, but road freight is still up and running. Depending how far the destination is, you can arrange overnight couriers. You can even get into contact with a few pet road transports. The companies I've been using lately in that respect are First Class Pet Transport and K9 Hydrate Pet Express. They both charge roughly $100 and both go up and down the east coast. Although I find the former company can be a little unreliable at times, due to them often running late, but they are still doing runs as far as I'm aware.

Hope this helps.

 

[Herpetology]

@Harpo and I used a site called Shiply to get 2 bredli from Sydney to Victoria

very easy to use, you put up a job listing and someone will accept the job, they’ll be licensed freight drivers so they aren’t affected by the covid restrictions between crossing states, he got there in less than 24Hours and kept the box in the passengers seat out of any direct sun

 

[Harpo]

I +1 shiply, I've used them twice to transport snakes with no problems. Door to door courier, very transparent communication. I recommend very clear communication well before shipping date and a courier you can trust. cost was under $150 interstate, if I recall. Worth every cent.