Emerging info-communication and vehicle technologies
(especially vehicle automation) facilitate evolvement of
autonomous road freight transportation. The entire transport
system and its operation undergo a major change. New service
concepts are growing and the existing ones are being
transformed. The changing is particularly significant in
city logistics. However, there are debates about the ways
of automation of processes targeting improvement of capacity
utilisation and decrease of expenditures. The main research
questions of the paper are therefore: what properties of the
future autonomous freight transportation are presumed; what
system structure is to be constructed and how the system is
to be operated? After introducing the basic notions and
reviews of the current systems and developments,
the shifting from traditional freight transportation to
autonomous system is investigated by several aspects. A
system- and process-oriented analytical modelling method
has been applied. The main system constituents and their
connections are modelled. Finally, we elaborate the
operational model of road freight transportation, which is
applicable principally in metropolitan areas. In conclusion,
the presented results appoint the research and innovation
trends towards the automation of freight transportation