Autonomous freight trucks are travelling around 250,000 kilometres each week on Russian federal highways, according to Alexey Raikevich, chief executive of JSC GLONASS, as Moscow accelerates plans to expand driverless logistics operations across the country, Russia’s First Channel reports.

Around 100 driverless trucks are currently operating on the M-11 Neva, M-4 Don, Central Ring Road and M-12 Vostok highways under a unified identification system based on ERA-GLONASS, Russia’s state-run emergency response and telematics platform.

The system collects telematics data from onboard controllers, including vehicle coordinates, speed, mileage and the status of autonomous driving systems. The data is transmitted to central servers in real time, enabling authorities and operators to monitor each truck without requiring human dispatchers.

The development comes as Russia seeks to increase automation in its transport and logistics sector amid labour shortages and rising pressure to improve freight efficiency across long-distance routes. The government has identified autonomous trucking as a strategic technology area in its transport modernisation plans.

GLONASS and Russia’s Ministry of Transport launched a public counter for accident-free autonomous mileage in November 2025. According to the platform, autonomous trucks have so far completed 17mn kilometres without accidents being included in the tally. The system’s algorithms automatically remove sections involving incidents from the statistics, counting only routine journeys.

The Russian government recently approved a long-term framework for the development of the unmanned trucking market through 2035. Under the strategy, autonomous trucks could account for 19% of Russia’s road freight turnover by the end of the decade, with the total fleet projected to reach 57,000 vehicles.

Russia began testing autonomous freight transport corridors several years ago, initially focusing on the M-11 motorway linking Moscow and St Petersburg. State officials have since expanded pilot programmes to other major logistics routes as domestic technology companies and transport operators increase investment in self-driving systems.