The Big Truck Mafia went from being a mere gathering of a few friends to now being a regional organization that has a combined 6,000 Instagram and Twitter followers.

The group was started by former student Austin Mayfield and his group of friends.

“We all used to park our trucks together last year and we named ourselves a ‘Big Truck Mafia’ for fun,” said senior Knox Griffin who was one of the original members of the Big Truck Mafia.

And the next thing Mayfield knew,  people were wanting stickers, shirts, and wanting to join the group.

The group started to gain a lot of attention during this previous summer.

The mafia is a group of truck lovers or “gear heads” that get together to go mudding, race, or just cruise around town to show of their rides. The vehicles that members drive are all years and styles of custom trucks. The mafia is an enthusiast group for people that have passions for nice trucks.

“One rule is trucks only,” said senior Ricky Paine.

One activity that the mafia does that has been gaining a lot of attention lately is their monthly Cruise Nights. The next Cruise Night is March 1. Radio station 104.9 FM will be attending the event and will be providing coverage. The Cruise Night starts at Arkansas Customs at 5 p.m., and then the ride begins at 7 p.m.

“We are expecting 100 vehicles,” said Griffin. “It’s going to be huge.”

One thing that the keeps the Big Truck Mafia alive is how the members love to continuously customize and upgrade their trucks.

“Everything that I have done to my truck has been with my own money and my own two hands,” said Paine. “It’s a sense of pride working on my truck.”

Mayfield is currently in the process of trying to get the name and logo of Big Truck Mafia to be copyrighted.