Vitezslav Labounek, 44, was seen smirking as he shunted the 40-tonne articulated lorry into the back of vehicles on the M1.
One witness said it looked like a scene from the Steven Spielberg film Duel, which features a truck trying to run a car off the road.
Victim Sharon Palos said the driver was a "nut case" - who smirked as he forced her out of the way during rush hour.
"He was coming up behind me, taunting me," the 53-year-old said. "At one point, it looked like his grill was in my back window.
"I was trying to move forward to move away from him, but the more I did the more he came up the back of me.
"I tried to continue but I was trapped, then he rammed me."
Three drivers were left with whiplash and thousands of pounds worth of damage to their cars.
Labounek careered down the speed-restricted section of the M1 northbound between junctions 26 and 33 on August 28.
Derby Crown Court convicted Labounek, of no fixed address, of dangerous driving and criminal damage.
He was sentenced to 15 months in jail and banned from driving for three years.
