Crj-200 crew depart mke on the ueckr 1 departure. Initial altitude was to climb to 8;000. Controller...

Narrative:

We departed mke and were assigned the ueckr 1 departure. The first fix is prfec and is an 'expect to cross at 8;000 feet.' we were already assigned 8;000 feet when we were cleared direct to prfec but were not told to cross prfec at 8;000. A few moments later ATC assigned us to; 'climb via the SID except maintain 13;000.' the rest of the fixes on the SID were; 'at or above'. When we were given this clearance we had not reached prfec yet and I started a climb to 13;000. The captain and pilot observing; asked me a few minutes later if I thought we should have crossed prfec at 8000; as we were assigned to climb via SID. I thought that when a fix says; 'expect' it's not mandatory even in a climb via or descend via unless ATC specifically states that is what they want. I am not sure if this is correct and cannot find any information specifically addressing this question. It is usually not an issue but in this situation we were unsure as a flight crew on what the correct thing to do was. ATC never queried us; however we thought it would be good to file a report just in case.query ATC if unsure on the instructions.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 crew depart MKE on the UECKR 1 departure. Initial altitude was to climb to 8;000. Controller told pilots to 'Climb via the SID except maintain 13;000.' Pilots questioned each other if they were to cross PRFEC at 8;000 and continue via the SID. Aircraft was not at PRFEC yet.

Narrative: We departed MKE and were assigned the UECKR 1 departure. The first fix is PRFEC and is an 'Expect to cross at 8;000 feet.' We were already assigned 8;000 feet when we were cleared direct to PRFEC but were not told to cross PRFEC at 8;000. A few moments later ATC assigned us to; 'Climb via the SID except maintain 13;000.' The rest of the fixes on the SID were; 'At or above'. When we were given this clearance we had not reached PRFEC yet and I started a climb to 13;000. The Captain and pilot observing; asked me a few minutes later if I thought we should have crossed PRFEC at 8000; as we were assigned to climb via SID. I thought that when a fix says; 'Expect' it's not mandatory even in a climb via or descend via unless ATC specifically states that is what they want. I am not sure if this is correct and cannot find any information specifically addressing this question. It is usually not an issue but in this situation we were unsure as a flight crew on what the correct thing to do was. ATC never queried us; however we thought it would be good to file a report just in case.Query ATC if unsure on the instructions.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1236649
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	MKE.TRACON
State Reference	WI
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	SID UECKR 1
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Crj-200 crew depart mke on the ueckr 1 departure. Initial altitude was to climb to 8;000. Controller told pilots to 'climb via the SID except maintain 13;000.' pilots questioned each other if they were to cross prfec at 8;000 and continue via the SID. Aircraft was not at prfec yet.