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When I'm in the truck, tailgaters make me muy nervous, especially since a majority of rear-end accidents involving trucks have the smaller vehicle rear ending the truck.
If I'm being tailed too closely, I'll start out trying to signal them to either pass or back off, and in extreme cases, I'll just keep slowing down until they get disgusted and pass me.

I *really* don't appreciate letting someone put me in that position, as all too often, the trucker gets the blame even when the smaller vehicle is at fault, and even when that doesn't happen, the ambulance chasers know they can still bully trucking companies into a settlement in order to avoid expensive court cases.

Also... if my tire blows, it could very easily destroy a tailgater.

Also, in-re the braking distance myths... never assume that a truck will stop on a dime because it has big brakes or maybe you've seen it on TV. I've been driving these things for 20 years and can tell you: They Don't! Don't play with 'em. We're talking about human life here, and no amount of mpg gain is worth a life. Even a well-adjusted truck may have spent the day heating up the brakes in a town full of hills and traffic lights, or in mountainous terrain, and may well have very weak brakes when your life ends up depending on them. Also, don't assume that the truck *won't* brake well if you're too close behind 'em. Think Murphy's Law. The truck in front of you will have fresh, cool brakes. If you pull over in front of a truck and slow down, they'll probably be hot and weak.

Also, just for the record, I have ZERO sympathy for truckers who tailgate cars. They oughta be dragged out of their cabs and beat with a traffic cone.