This paper considers the prospects of digitalization in the warehouse cargo handlingsystem, as well as the impact of modern IT technologies on the logistics of a sea container terminal. The technological process of container transshipment in the operational areas of the terminal and formation of auxiliary stacks for further transfer of cargo between different transport means, their temporary storage and transformation (from containerized form to general cargo and back), as well as the implementation of secondary operations (checking, weighing, etc.) are the object of research. From an operational point of view, the formation of an auxiliary stack is a time-taking technological operation, as it requires the selective search and withdrawal from the general stack of a certain number of containers that make up the logistic flow of cargo moved to the relevant operational zone. The method of research is automatic programming of the simulated technological process. In this case, the simulation object is described by a finite automaton which is then converted into code. The main purpose of the automaton is to implement the control function. In the context of this research work, the control actions are aimed at the reloader and program the sequence of its actions to find the target containers in the stack. A mathematical model of the search and withdrawal of the target containers from the stack in the terminal storage area by means of a computerized control system, as well as a transition graph of the finite automaton with control rules (codes) are the results of this research. The application of above mathematical facility to modeling of technological processes makes it possible to present a unified logic of management of the prestacking process in operational areas of the terminal