Don't assume he's a good driver just because he's a truck driver.On the other hand, here are a few things everyone should know, but let me first say I think everyone should have to drive a big truck at least one week.It will give a new appreciation for what drivers have to contend with.
When you see a big truck's brake lights go on, it means something.
   When you pass a big truck, do it quickly, even if you have to exceed the speed limit for a few seconds. This is not an invitation to use your Porche's two hundred fifty five horses to pass every truck in sight until you are going one hundred forty five miles per hour, but highway patrolmen won't bother you if it's obvious you are only trying to get out of the truck driver's blind spot as quickly as possible.
   One of every truck driver's pet peeves: don't rush around and get right in front of him. It makes him nervous, and you will feel your ears tingle.
   Contrary to popular opinion, a big truck can not stop on a dime and give you five cents change. Trailers (they're called flatbeds, curtain sides, tankers or dry vans) and their loads have gotten bigger over the years and brakes have not. So don't think you are safe in front of one. You are actually safer behind him. Which brings up point number five.
   You might have seen the stickers on the backs of trailers. "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you." That is not to say "I want to accomodate you by not braking too quickly". There is no way in the world a big truck can stop faster than you. It means the truck driver needs to know someone is behind him before he has to make a rapid lane change, for whatever reason. He is constantly looking for an escape route, and you complicate things when he can't see you back there.
   Ever have a truck driver pass you, slow down to the point you have to pass him, and then he passes you again,and he slows down again, and it goes on till you get all paranoid and angry and you could swear the guy is playing games? He's not. You are probably in a series of hills and he can't climb a hill the way you can in your car. When he goes down the other side of the hill, his speed builds and he passes you, gaining momentum for the next hill. People think big trucks have all this power, and they do. But it takes more than what they have to negotiate steep hills or long grades. He might need to gear down five or six times to climb the hill, losing speed along the way. When you pass him or he passes you, he isn't giving you a second thought, even if it happens half a dozen times. He is just doing what it takes to get his load to it's destination.

Some truck driver terminology.
Monkeytown	Montgomery, AL
Hotlanta	Atlanta, GA
Four wheeler	Anybody driving anything with four wheels.Considered a nuisance
Smokey Bear	A Highway Patrolman
Local	A policeman
County	A Deputy Sheriff
Yardstick	A mile marker
Gator	A cap that has come off a big retreaded truck tire, lying in the roadway
Big Road	The Interstate Highway system.
Hammer Lane	The fast lane, the left one
Bobtail	A big truck without a trailer
Bull Wagon	A truck hauling cattle
Land line	A telephone, as opposed to a cb radio or a qualcom
Circle City	Dothan, AL
Petercar	A Peterbilt
Yard Dog	A truck that pulls trailers around a loading area
Stick Hauler	A truck that pulls pulpwood
Freight Shaker	A Freightliner