05-04-2025
Meet the next generation of women in truck culture from North Texas
If it's not the body of the big trucks that catch your eye or the engines, it might be the person driving it.
"It's almost euphoric knowing that they turned their heads, not just because they see a girl driving, but because they respect the build and they think that, you know, we're valid, and it just feels empowering," said Karla Guerrero, President of Girls Trucking DFW.
Girls Trucking DFW is an all-female lead group focusing on women and trucks. Their mission is to bring women together to build, customize, and celebrate their passion for trucks while fostering a strong and empowering network. Guerrero founded the group in May of 2024, and they currently have about 30 members. For many of the members, the builds on their trucks represent who they are as Latinas.
"Mine is really special to me because it's a 2002 and that's the year I was born as well, so I have that connection with my truck," Guerrero said. "Pretty much everything on it I've either done myself or worked for the money to get the work done. My girlfriend, she helped me put on these headlights, and then the rims are actually hand-painted."
Guerrero said the inspiration for the group came from a Houston-based crew called Trucks and Dolls.
"There's one called Trucks and Dolls, which they paved the way for us, thankfully. But a lot of them are already in their mid-30s and 40s, and they're all starting their families, so, it was just time for the next generation to come out and show what the girls got, because we've always been here, we're just trying to remind everyone we're still here," Guerrero told CBS News Texas.
The idea of building and suping up trucks is part of what they call Takuche culture, which is a subculture primarily amongst Mexican American youth who love their culture and love trucks. It derived from
lowrider culture
.
"I'm from California, and they have lowrider culture, but here they have 'Takuache' culture, which is almost the same but with trucks, so you have the lower trucks," said crew member Maria Jose Castellanos. "They do all these amazing things for the truck, the wheels and everything."
Castellanos has invested over $10,000 dollars in her truck. She said the group gives her a community of women who are skilled in a male dominated field, where they sometimes feel excluded.
"Usually, you go to a shop and it's a guy working on your truck, but there's actually a girl in our crew who has a shop," Castellanos said. "So, it's empowering and pretty awesome to be saying, like, 'oh, you know, I took my truck to a girl, and she fixed it.'"
For crew member Natalia Garcia, this group has given her confidence.
"My truck is a little bit different. I do like making it my own and doing things I like, not what everyone else is doing," Garcia said. "I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. They make me feel like I do belong just because I am a little bit quieter. They're really nice and they're always willing to help."
While some people illegally race their trucks these women do not. Guerrero said none of the current members focus on performance or speed, and if someone does decide to race, they only do it at designated tracks like Yello Belly Drag Strip. She said it's more about aesthetic for them, helping one another not only with technical issues on the road, but the personal issues life brings, too, making their own lane in the trucking community.
While the group's membership is mostly Latina, it hopes to recruit more women of all backgrounds and ethnicities.
"I just hope that all the little girls at home watching, you know, they go to the truck shows with their dads and they see all the trucks and that they want to do it someday… that they do it, and I hope we empower everybody, we motivate everybody and inspire you to just come out and do the same or in your own way," Guerrero said.
The group is hosting a meet up Saturday, April 5. The event is free and open to the community and more information can be found on their
social media pages
.
