Tammy:
As Joanne noted, it is very helpful to find out the distance of the total transport. I like this website-
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html - to find out the nm[nautical miles] between different locations. If you go to the website, you will see:
FROM
location given OTHER
TO
location given OTHER
Both operrate the same way. For example, if you want to find out the distance between Minneapolis, MN and Philadelphia, PA, go first to "FROM." The location that is automatically given is where the computer is located so if it isn't in Minneapolis, cick on "OTHER." This will take you to a page where you will do the following:
STEP 1
Enter city or state[do this: for example, Minneapolis]
STEP 2
Pick location
locations named Minneapolis will appear. If there is only one: Minneapolis, MN, then go to STEP 3
If multiple locations are listed, then click on the one you need, then go to STEP 3
STEP 3
Confirm Selection
Just click on the button to confirm that the "FROM" location is Minneapolis, MN
Go down to the "TO" and follow the same steps.
It will then open a page that lists the distance in miles and nautical miles, you want the latter for PNP transports.
You can divide the total nautical miles by 100 - 200 nautical miles to determine about how many pilots you will need.
Then post your transport request in the proper forum and click on "Map this Request"--the letters are in red and are on the left hand side of your posting. A map with all the pilots, and fosters, along the route will appear. Then you can start contacting the pilots, just click on the airplane symbols. In some areas there are alot of planes so you can use the "+/-" lever on the map to increase the size of the map to separate the airplane icons. But do so very gradually or else you might not be able to figure out what part of the country is being shown:) This used to happen to me all the time so I learned to move it slowly and gently.
Hope this helps.
Roberta
P.S. It is possible to coordinate long transports. For example, I have coordinated PNP transports from Lexington, KY to Helena, MT, with an overnight in Denver. But it can take quite awhile to do this. I coordinated another transport from Louisville, KY to Marin County, CA and had it all set up, but after the dogs arrived in Denver, where they were to overnight, the transport had to be postponed because one of the pilots had a family emergency and then alot of bad weather hit. The foster mom was very accomodating as I tried to get them out of Denver, and to Northern CA, for a week: but when the weather was okay close to CO, it was bad on the CA side and vice versa. We ended up having to send the dogs on a commercial flight from Denver, CO to San Francisco, CA. I regularly fly dogs from IA to FL and usually five pilots assist, including one that overnights them in Atlanta. Theoretically It is possible to complete this long transport in one day, but frequently there is "weather" somewhere along the route and there are delays so I usually just overnight them in Atlanta.