You never want to get to the point where you’re walking into the

office at 11 AM and your boss has no idea where you’ve been and
why you missed half the day. Chances are if you’re running late, not
only do you have the means to warn your manager ahead of time
(hello, that’s what a cell phone is for), but you also know pretty early
on how late you’re actually going to be.
If the conductor hops on the mic to tell you your commuter train’s
going to be held at the station for 20 minutes, you should try to find
a signal and contact your boss right then and there. If you get a
notification the night before traveling home saying that your flight
may be delayed, it’s worth sending your supervisor a note before
heading to bed. If your child starts coughing up a storm and you
know that means you’ll need to pop into the doctor’s office, whip
out your phone.
Matthew Brochstein, The Muse’s own CTO, notes that he always
wants folks on his team to notify him “in a way and timeframe that
allows me to react. Sending me an email two minutes before a
meeting effectively ensures that I will have no idea that you’re going
to be late.”
Use your best judgement—you may decide that even with your
delayed transportation or detour to the nearest health clinic you’ll
still be able to make it in at your normal time (or at least you’ll only
be a tad late). But know that there’s absolutely no harm in preparing
your boss for your potential tardiness. Worst case, you actually show
up on time and all’s forgotten.

Don’t Lie
As tempting as it is to say, “But this crazy thing happened! There
was a 50-car pileup right in front of me and I literally got out of my
car and climbed over the heap to get here!” you’re better off going
with the truth or giving no reason at all (unless the pileup thing
actually happened to you). The risk of getting caught in a lie is too
great, and when something actually happens to you where you need
their trust they’ll be less inclined to give it to you if you’ve fibbed
before.