The Road Transport Department (RTD) was established in 1937, under the Traffic Enactment 1937 of the British military law in the Federated Malay States. The administration was then known as the Road Transport Board, tasked with the regulating and licensing of public enterprises. With the establishment of the administration of Malaya in April 1946, the powers of the board was taken over by the Office of the Registrar and Motor Vehicles Inspection which covered the whole of Malaya.

Before 1937, the regulation of motorised vehicles covered only the four Federated Malay States of Lower Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang. The administration was not extended to the Unfederated Malay States, until Traffic Enactment 1937 was enforced.

In line with the establishment of the department, a law called the road the Road Traffic Ordinance 1953 was approved to replace the Traffic Enactment 1937. Given the importance of the duties to enforce the law, especially for commercial vehicles, the Enforcement Division was set up to carry out the enforcement functions.

On 1 April 1946, the Road Transport Department was established with the aim to coordinate all aspects of transportation across the country. In connection with the establishment of this department, various related acts was enacted, such as the Road Transport Ordinance 1958 and the Road Transport Act 1987. This was intended to streamline the country's transportation laws as well as a platform for RTD responsibilities. Following significant improvements to the transportation system in country in the 80's, RTD was increasingly burdened with multiple responsibilities to improve its service quality. Accordingly, the internal restructuring of the department was carried out to increase the efficiency to suit current needs and interests. Due to the diversity of functions in all parts of the department, various innovations have been implemented to improve the efficiency of the service. The 90's showed the most promising progress because of the demands of the placed by the transportation system.

The Road Transport Department of Malaysia is one of the departments under the Land Division, Ministry of Transport Malaysia. It is responsible for providing counter services for licensing of vehicles and drivers and the enforcement of the Road Transport Act 1987 to ensure safe drivers and safe vehicles. It is an organization that provides high quality services, with the responsibility to manage and enforce the collection of revenue in a transparent and efficient manner.