East Kent Road Car Company Limited was officially formed on 11 August 1916. From 1928, the Southern Railway became a significant shareholder in the company. From 1929, an arrangement was made with the British Post Office where letter boxes would be installed on some vehicles. Moving into the 1930s saw the take overs of the tramways of Dover and Thanet, trams were quickly replaced with motor buses.
During the Second World War, East Kent vehicles were regular targets for enemy aircraft and the long range guns across The Channel on the French coast before the fall of France. To try to combat this, the cream-coloured parts of the buses were repainted grey to help make them less visible. The company experienced many losses during this time, especially at Dover where the garage suffered a direct hit in 1942, killing several staff.