Motor Transport Institute began its activities in 1952 under the Regulation of the Minister of Road and Air Transport of 25 September 1951 on the establishment of the Motor Transport Institute.

Motor Transport Institute functions according to:

• The Act of 30 April 2010 on the research institutes (Journal of Laws No. 96, item. 618),
• Motor Transport Institute statute - REgulation No. 9 of the Minister of Infrastructure dated 11 March 2011
• Organizational regulations,
• Documentation of the management systems obligatory in the Institute.

The Institutes activities are country wide. Research problems, the Institute have dealt with over the past 50 years were constantly changing. They were a result of the national economy needs as well as transport ones together with technical and organizational progress both within the economy and transport. In its first decade of existence - 1952-1962 the Institute's attention was mainly concentrating on the following problems:

• usage of vehicles - testing and issuing opinions on suitability and selection of transport equipment, economising on fuels, lubricants, examining vehicles, assemblies and components wear depending on service conditions and driving techniques,
• vehicles' maintenance - modernisation of the servicing and repair processes, determining the vehicles technical condition without dismantling them, selection of appropriate service and repair equipment,
• economics and transport organization as well as its technical back up - selection of the amount and assortment of the vehicles, rationalisation of the transport organization and technical back up, effectiveness of the road transport and technical back up expenditures, lowering prime costs, rationalisation and mechanisation of the loading work in the road transport,
• conducting studies and analysis of the road traffic - organization and traffic,
• technical standardisation - developing trade standards and initiating, coordinating and organizing standardizing work,
• looking after of the operation of associated research and laboratory units,
• scientific, technical, economic information and documentation.

Additionally the Institute's objective was to prepare information materials for the motor car industry, running library and information centre for this branch of business and publishing papers and research works.

During the years 1972-76 research subjects that the Institute was involved in were undergoing constant evolutions as a result mainly of the changes in the national economy and growing role of the transport in the social and economic life. Problems with transport functioning and organization have become more loudly heard. The cost of conducting haulage tasks have become more significant, hence a lot of attention was paid to the technological problems in fright and passenger carriage. The time factor in transport was more appreciated. Not to forget the role that Prof. Marian Madeyski had as a forerunner of the new research directions in transport. It is his own research work that Polish economic ideas owe, amongst the others: the theory of load transport susceptibility, development of the transport spatial aspects, conducting studies in the early sixties on dangers to the natural environment as well as connections between transport and transformations in the economy and social life, and forecasting transport development, its internal and external integration. At that time, a strong pro-economic lobby was created within the Institute. This centre, associating a group of outstanding scientists, (such as: Prof. J. Marzec, Prof. E. Lissowska, W. Morawski, Prof. J. Wolszczan) influenced research problems undertaken and methods of solving them. Informal bonds amongst transport economists got created around Prof. M. Madeyski, whose name will always be part of transport development history. It is worth noting here also such names as: Prof. L. Koźniewski (first head of the communication faculty at the Main School for Planning and Statistics), Prof. T. Wierzbicki (pioneering IT scientific foundations), MSc. A. Rostocki (history of Polish motorism development), Prof. J. Tarski, Prof. E. Teichmann (transport and tourism problems as well as time factor role in the transport). As a result of this in its second decade the Institutes activities were directed towards the following groups of problems:

• directions and prospects of the road transport development,
• road transport economics and organization, its technical back up as well as technical and organizational reconstruction of transport,
• Principles and methods of organizing road haulage and freight processes,
• mechanisation of loading work in the road transport, including development of unified technologies,
• type and specialisation of the vehicles fleet, methods of increasing its durability and technical readiness as well as managing the vehicles fleet,
• directions and development prospects of the motorism back up facilities,
• principles and methods as well as technologies of servicing and repairing motor vehicles,
• improving skills of transport staff and of motorism technical back up,
• safety, sociology and psychology in the aspects of road traffic,
• employment, salaries, finances, planning, statistics etc in the road transport and motorism technical back up.

Additionally the Institute's tasks encompassed:

• following development of sciences linked with scope of the Institute's activities as well as initiating appropriate actions towards utilising world technical and economic & organizational progress,
• conducting unification and typification work concerning road transport and its technical back up,
• specialisation and widening scientific and professional qualifications by the Institute's personnel,
• co-operation with domestic and foreign scientific centres.

Organizational structure of the Institute was gradually adapted to the statutory tasks conducted by the Institute.

Towards the end of the eighties the Institute entered deep social and economic transformations. New economic system forced the Institute to take on new challenges, whose realisation required searching for none-budget funding. The Institute's management, led by Prof. PhD Łepkowski, embarked on the task of working out a new organizational system, whose vital part was linking the system of incentives with the results of work. In a very short time the Institute had very sound organizational footing. Additional financial resources obtained were possible to be directed to: modernise the laboratory equipment and that of other departments as well as carry out long awaited major repair works to the Institute building. The external facade and internal lay out of the Institute were profoundly changed. New research directions were embarked upon and, those works met with an increasing recognition both domestically and abroad. The Institute is involved in wide aspects of the road traffic safety and protecting natural environment against the results of motorism's development. It is also engaged in management processes concerning transport firms and organized by them transport processes, including those stemming from the European Union requirements. This encompasses the following subjects in particular:

• behaviour of business entities on the transport services market,
• forecasting transport development,
• organization and management of the transport entities using IT systems,
• logistics in the road transport,
• marketing transport services,
• technology of the transport and freight carrying processes,
• transport means operating systems,
• design projects, manufacturing prototypes of the service and repair equipment, diagnostic and off loading equipment,
• validation, certification, control and calibration of the measurement devices used for vehicle diagnostics and their equipment,
• carrying out technical activities in the road transport,
• type approval testing of the vehicles, their equipment and spare parts in accordance with domestic and international regulations as well as co-ordinating work carried out within the same scope by other institutions,
• road traffic engineering and technical, organizational means applicable,
• analysis of the causes and consequences of the road accidents,
• road safety education of the society,
• examining environmental pollution from motor vehicles' exhaust gasses,
• problems linked with: fuels, oils, greases and other service materials,
• road transport psychology,
• furthering staff education (courses, seminars, trainings) for the transport needs,
• road transport standardisation problems,
• road transport certification problems.

During the 1952-2013 years the Instytut conducted thousands of scientific research and service works.

Present form of the Institutes organizational regulations is reflected in the following structure of the Institute:

• Centre for Material Testing and Mechatronics,
• Environment Protection Centre,
• Road Traffic Safety Centre,
• Transport Management and Telematics Centre,
• Vehicle Type-Approval & Testing Department,
• Diagnostics and Servicing Process Department,
• Economic Research Department,
• Road Transport Psychology Department,
• Certification, Standardization and Quality Department,
• Quality Control Department.

Auxiliary sections are:

• Director's Office
• Planning and Budgeting Section
• Funds and International Projects Section,
• IT Section,
• Scientific Information and Publications Section,
• Personnel Section,
• Financial & Accounts Department,
• Administrative and Technical Section.

The main management bodies of the Institute are, the Director General and Scientific Committee. Institute's Director is nominated and recalled by the minister responsible for transport and his term of office is 5 years. The candidates enter a contest and the decision is made upon obtaining the opinion from the Scientific Committee. The Director General's deputies as well as the chief accountant, scientific secretary and heads of the departments are nominated and recalled by DG, having obtained the Scientific Committee's opinion. The Scientific Committee is a legislative body, initiating, opinion making and advisory to the Institute concerning its statutory activities and educational furthering of the scientific and technical research staff. The Scientific Committee's tasks as well as the process of its election is written down in the ITS regulations on the Scientific Committee. It is headed by a Chairman. The scientific, training and publishing activities, the Institute conducts through its appropriate departments.

The scientific research staff together with technical one actively participates in domestic and foreign standardisation organizations and advisory bodies. International activity of the Institute's personnel was reflected in several awards and distinctions obtained, if only for motor vehicles' safety. The Institute's staff participates in: Parliament and Senate Commissions preparing stands for the discussions on the legislative acts, Government Commissions for the Road Traffic Safety, introducing several solutions, contributing to improving road safety. Institute's personnel are also known as motorism technical experts co-operating with Polish Economic Society and other associations. The entire, only roughly described, activity of the Institute is devoted to maintaining its unique position and role it has in the development of the road transport in Poland.