diff --git a/daft/runners/ray_tracing.py b/daft/runners/ray_tracing.py
index 2d4db4d32d..f56effdfa8 100644
--- a/daft/runners/ray_tracing.py
+++ b/daft/runners/ray_tracing.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import contextlib
 import dataclasses
 import json
+import logging
 import os
 import pathlib
 import time
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@
     from daft import ResourceRequest
     from daft.execution.physical_plan import MaterializedPhysicalPlan
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # We add the trace by default to the latest session logs of the Ray Runner
 # This lets us access our logs via the Ray dashboard when running Ray jobs
@@ -89,6 +91,16 @@ def write_header(self) -> None:
         if self.file is not None:
             self.file.write("[")
 
+    def write_metadata(self, event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+        """Write a metadata event to the trace file
+
+        Args:
+            event: The metadata event to write
+        """
+        if self.file is not None:
+            self.file.write(json.dumps(event))
+            self.file.write(",\n")
+
     def write_event(self, event: dict[str, Any], ts: int | None = None) -> int:
         """Write a single trace event to the file
 
@@ -114,46 +126,8 @@ def write_event(self, event: dict[str, Any], ts: int | None = None) -> int:
             self.file.write(",\n")
         return ts
 
-    def write_footer(self, process_meta: list[tuple[int, str]], thread_meta: list[tuple[int, int, str]]) -> None:
-        """Writes metadata for the file, closing out the file with a footer.
-
-        Args:
-            process_meta: Pass in custom names for PIDs as a list of (pid, name).
-            thread_meta: Pass in custom names for threads a a list of (pid, tid, name).
-        """
+    def write_footer(self) -> None:
         if self.file is not None:
-            for pid, name in [
-                (SCHEDULER_PID, "Scheduler"),
-                (STAGES_PID, "Stages"),
-            ] + process_meta:
-                self.file.write(
-                    json.dumps(
-                        {
-                            "name": "process_name",
-                            "ph": PHASE_METADATA,
-                            "pid": pid,
-                            "args": {"name": name},
-                        }
-                    )
-                )
-                self.file.write(",\n")
-
-            for pid, tid, name in [
-                (SCHEDULER_PID, 1, "_run_plan dispatch loop"),
-            ] + thread_meta:
-                self.file.write(
-                    json.dumps(
-                        {
-                            "name": "thread_name",
-                            "ph": PHASE_METADATA,
-                            "pid": pid,
-                            "tid": tid,
-                            "args": {"name": name},
-                        }
-                    )
-                )
-                self.file.write(",\n")
-
             # Remove the trailing comma
             self.file.seek(self.file.tell() - 2, os.SEEK_SET)
             self.file.truncate()
@@ -172,26 +146,85 @@ def __init__(self, file: TextIO | None):
         self._writer.write_header()
 
     def _write_event(self, event: dict[str, Any], ts: int | None = None) -> int:
-        return self._writer.write_event(event, ts)
+        try:
+            return self._writer.write_event(event, ts)
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError) as e:
+            logger.exception("Failed to serialize event to JSON: %s", e)
+            return ts or -1
+        except OSError as e:
+            logger.exception("Failed to write trace event to file: %s", e)
+            return ts or -1
+
+    def _write_metadata(self, metadata_event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+        try:
+            return self._writer.write_metadata(metadata_event)
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError) as e:
+            logger.exception("Failed to serialize metadata to JSON: %s", e)
+            return
+        except OSError as e:
+            logger.exception("Failed to write trace metadata to file: %s", e)
+            return
 
     def finalize(self, metrics_actor: ray_metrics.MetricsActorHandle) -> None:
-        # Retrieve metrics from the metrics actor and perform some post-processing
+        # Retrieve metrics from the metrics actor (blocking call)
         task_metrics, node_metrics = metrics_actor.collect_metrics()
+
+        # Write out labels for the nodes and other traced events
         nodes_to_pid_mapping = {node_id: i + NODE_PIDS_START for i, node_id in enumerate(node_metrics)}
         nodes_workers_to_tid_mapping = {
             (node_id, worker_id): (pid, tid)
             for node_id, pid in nodes_to_pid_mapping.items()
             for tid, worker_id in enumerate(node_metrics[node_id])
         }
+        self._write_process_and_thread_names(
+            [(pid, f"Node {node_id}") for node_id, pid in nodes_to_pid_mapping.items()],
+            [(pid, tid, f"Worker {worker_id}") for (_, worker_id), (pid, tid) in nodes_workers_to_tid_mapping.items()],
+        )
 
         # Write out collected metrics
         for metric in task_metrics:
             self._write_task_metric(metric, nodes_workers_to_tid_mapping)
         self._write_stages()
-        self._writer.write_footer(
-            [(pid, f"Node {node_id}") for node_id, pid in nodes_to_pid_mapping.items()],
-            [(pid, tid, f"Worker {worker_id}") for (_, worker_id), (pid, tid) in nodes_workers_to_tid_mapping.items()],
-        )
+
+        # End the file with the appropriate footer
+        self._writer.write_footer()
+
+    def _write_process_and_thread_names(
+        self,
+        process_meta: list[tuple[int, str]],
+        thread_meta: list[tuple[int, int, str]],
+    ):
+        """Writes metadata for the file
+
+        Args:
+            process_meta: Pass in custom names for PIDs as a list of (pid, name).
+            thread_meta: Pass in custom names for threads a a list of (pid, tid, name).
+        """
+        for pid, name in [
+            (SCHEDULER_PID, "Scheduler"),
+            (STAGES_PID, "Stages"),
+        ] + process_meta:
+            self._write_metadata(
+                {
+                    "name": "process_name",
+                    "ph": PHASE_METADATA,
+                    "pid": pid,
+                    "args": {"name": name},
+                }
+            )
+
+        for pid, tid, name in [
+            (SCHEDULER_PID, 1, "_run_plan dispatch loop"),
+        ] + thread_meta:
+            self._write_metadata(
+                {
+                    "name": "thread_name",
+                    "ph": PHASE_METADATA,
+                    "pid": pid,
+                    "tid": tid,
+                    "args": {"name": name},
+                }
+            )
 
     def _write_stages(self):
         for stage_id in self._stage_start_end: