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Hi there,
in my experience, it depends on where you do it.
On urban highways (or urban autobahn around here) nobody bothers if you have a little less distance than the law allows... there are exits every 2 km and if you try to keep your distance, you can as well stop immediately and wait until the road is empty (around 3:00 am :-))
Regarding the point about a truck high centering some road junk... here in Germany, I hear perhaps once a month about things lying on the road on the traffic radio channel, and they report each and every case... the last time I have seen something lying on the road which was big enough to damage my car must have been some years ago. IMHO this is not an issue, at least not around here. You'll rather be hit by a meteorite, and for that, you do not have to draft.
Concerning trucks braking in front of you... most truck-related crashes seem to be of the type 'truck driver rear-ended end of traffic jam' around here, so I guess I am a lot safer behind the truck than in front of it.
One additional point is that trucks going faster than the one I am tailing overtake with much less fuss as when I am driving slow on my own. Some truck drivers react severely pissed if they have to overtake a small car which is going slow (it could go faster, could'nt it?) while overtaking a colleague (even with a tail) is business as usual.
For me, it seems to work. But, as I said, it depends on a lot of factors, so it may not work out good for somebody else somewhere else with a different car etc. etc.
so long,
tinduck
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