Narrative:

We landed five minutes early and had a 40 minute turn. As a result; the pre departure clearance clearance was not available. After we had both taken breaks; we both did our cockpit preparations; briefings and checklists. We called for pushback and were able to get runway 26; which we had expected and briefed. When switched to [tracon]; he told us to squawk XXXX code. We noticed zeros were set in the transponder. We were changed to center at about 12;000 feet and he told us we could resume normal speed. We were climbing at 280 knots; and I looked at the SID to see if we were restricted to 250 knots; and there was no [restriction]. We discussed it and decided that maybe it was in the clearance. We looked for the pre departure clearance clearance in the FMC and that's when we realized that there wasn't one. We then asked ATC to confirm our routing and clearance. The remainder of the flight was uneventful and normal.normally; I compare the pre departure clearance cleared route with the FMC box route to make sure they match. As this was day five; and the last leg; I must have been in the 'let's get this over with' mode. Need to be extra careful to follow my own flows especially when it's the last leg of five days. And I will look for a squawk code now on my preflight flow. While normally it's rushing that makes you miss something; in this case; it was actually having too much time that was part of the problem. The first officer said he usually gets his cockpit prep done right after shutdown and before he leaves for a break. This doesn't work when you have a longer time on the ground during turns.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 Captain reported departing without obtaining a PDC. Fatigue was cited as contributing.

Narrative: We landed five minutes early and had a 40 minute turn. As a result; the PDC clearance was not available. After we had both taken breaks; we both did our cockpit preparations; briefings and checklists. We called for pushback and were able to get Runway 26; which we had expected and briefed. When switched to [Tracon]; he told us to squawk XXXX code. We noticed zeros were set in the transponder. We were changed to Center at about 12;000 feet and he told us we could resume normal speed. We were climbing at 280 knots; and I looked at the SID to see if we were restricted to 250 knots; and there was no [restriction]. We discussed it and decided that maybe it was in the clearance. We looked for the PDC clearance in the FMC and that's when we realized that there wasn't one. We then asked ATC to confirm our routing and clearance. The remainder of the flight was uneventful and normal.Normally; I compare the PDC cleared route with the FMC box route to make sure they match. As this was day five; and the last leg; I must have been in the 'Let's get this over with' mode. Need to be extra careful to follow my own flows especially when it's the last leg of five days. And I will look for a squawk code now on my preflight flow. While normally it's rushing that makes you miss something; in this case; it was actually having too much time that was part of the problem. The First Officer said he usually gets his cockpit prep done right after shutdown and before he leaves for a break. This doesn't work when you have a longer time on the ground during turns.

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.