Most people don’t wake up on March 23rd thinking about asteroids.

But maybe we should.

On this day in 1989, an asteroid-4581 Asclepius-slipped past Earth at a distance of roughly 450,000–500,000 miles. In cosmic terms, that’s not “far away.” That’s a near miss. The kind where, if things were just a little different, we wouldn’t be here talking about it.

Here’s the part that should get your attention:

We didn’t even know it happened until nine days later.

Let that sink in.

A football-field-sized rock with the energy potential of a 600–1000 megaton blast came screaming past our planet… and we found out about it after the fact.

No warning.
No prevention.
No chance to react.

So What Does That Have to Do With Trucking?

Everything.

Because in our world, near misses happen every single day.

• A driver brakes hard because a car cuts them off.
• A trailer tire is worn, but doesn’t fail—yet.
• A fatigued moment drifts a truck toward the shoulder, then snaps back.
• A load shifts, but holds—this time.

Those are our asteroids.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most companies don’t “discover” their near misses until after something goes wrong—if they discover them at all.

The Problem: We Only Measure What Hurts

In safety, we tend to focus on what shows up on paper:

• Crashes
• Violations
• Out-of-service events
• Insurance claims

That’s the equivalent of tracking asteroid impacts… and ignoring everything that almost hit us.

It’s reactive.
It’s incomplete.
And it leaves a lot to chance.

The Opportunity: Near Miss Reporting

A strong safety culture doesn’t just track outcomes—it tracks precursors.

Near miss reporting is one of the most underutilized—and most powerful—tools a motor carrier has.

Why?

Because near misses tell you where your system is failing quietly.

They expose:

• Gaps in training
• Weaknesses in maintenance programs
• Risky customer practices
• Problem routes and parking locations
• Behavioral trends before they become violations

In other words, they give you the chance to fix the problem before it shows up in a BASIC score or a courtroom.

The Reality: Drivers Don’t Report Near Misses… Unless You Let Them

Here’s where most programs fall apart.

If a driver thinks reporting a near miss will:

• Get them written up
• Put a target on their back
• Trigger discipline

They won’t report it.

Not because they don’t care—but because they’re human.

So instead, the information disappears.

And just like that asteroid in 1989… you don’t see the risk until it’s too late.

Building a Near Miss Culture (That Actually Works)

If you want near miss reporting to matter, it has to be:

1. Non-punitive (within reason)
If the goal is learning, not punishment, you’ll get honesty.

2. Simple
If it takes 15 minutes and three forms, it won’t happen. Period.

3. Timely
Capture it while it’s fresh—not two weeks later.

4. Actionable
Nothing kills a program faster than reports going into a black hole.
If drivers don’t see change, they stop talking.

5. Reinforced by leadership
If management only talks about crashes, that’s what people focus on.
If you talk about near misses, you start preventing them.

A Little Perspective

Think about it this way:

If NASA only tracked the asteroids that hit Earth… we’d be in trouble.

They track the near misses.
They study them.
They build systems to detect them earlier next time.

That’s how you stay ahead of the risk.

Final Thought

In trucking, we don’t get nine days after the fact.

We get one moment. One decision. One opportunity to catch something before it escalates.

Near misses are not “nothing happened.”

They are everything almost happened.

And if you’re not paying attention to them, you’re flying blind.

Call to Action

Today, ask yourself:

• Do we have a near miss reporting process?
• Do our drivers trust it?
• Are we actually learning from it?

If the answer is no—or even “kind of”—you’ve got work to do.

Because the next “asteroid” is already out there.

Make it Safe. Make it Personal. Make it Home.