My first year driving a truck... a few observations

In July of 2010 I decided to change careers after 23 years in the restaurant industry. Most people might say I became "a trucker", but "a trucker" I am not. I have met truckers by the dozens since changing careers. They are definitely a breed apart. I like to think of myself as a freight transport and relocation specialist... I happen to drive a truck to do that.
The past several months has indeed been interesting, to say the least. I have seen more of the United States in just under a year than most people see looking at a map. I must say, every city is virtually the same: the same restaurants, the same shops, the same traffic, et cetera. Another thing that is consistent is that the vast majority of drivers... drivers of cars that is... do not seem to understand a few basic things, which I will outline here:
1. There is a difference between "being licensed to drive" versus "knowing how to drive".

2. Eight-teen wheeled trucks, contrary to popular belief, CANNOT stop on a dime. Did you know that at 50 miles an hour on dry roads it will still require the length of three football fields to stop a truck and fully loaded trailer?

3. If you cut a truck off when changing lanes you will, I promise, blip-blap severely under the front of the truck and you will be sucked off the pavement with wet-dry vacuums when the police and EMS are cleaning up the accident site. It will most likely be the last mistake you might ever make.

4. If you are going to pass a truck, THEN PASS, please do not hover right next to the truck, it is the absolute least safest place for a car to be if something bad were to happen.

5. If a truck is signaling to change lanes, please understand one thing specifically: The turn signal is INTENTION, and most definitely NOT simply a "request".

6. The common mistake most drivers of cars make is thinking only of getting to their own "point B"... without a single concern for the other drivers around them or the journey between "A" and "B".

7. The average driver will always try to blame the truck driver for any accident or near miss... but they fail to realize that, at least from my current set of experiences over the past year, ninety percent of the time it is the drivers of cars that create the hazards that cause accidents (please see numbers 1-6).