Narrative:

Confusing clearance via cpdlc. Flight plan route was WEVIC4.hve.dvc.cim.pnh. Upon receiving the cpdlc clearance it stated that it was a revised clearance. The first officer and I both saw that there were revisions to the WEVIC4 speed and altitude restrictions. We were however confused by the wording 'cleared to pnh via route clearance' and 'after pnh cleared to ZZZ airport as filed' because we saw no change to the original route as filed. We contacted slc clearance delivery for clarification. They stated that they are unable to see the clearance message that is actually sent to the aircraft via cpdlc; but confirmed that our route was indeed modified to read ...dvc dct pnh... Deleting cim from the route. Clearance delivery also stated that multiple crews have been experiencing confusion with this cpdlc clearance. I do not know if the first officer and I were both missing something; but neither of us could see on the clearance received via cpdlc what the actual change to our routing was other than airspeed and altitude restrictions. The call to clearance delivery did clarify our route. It also indicated that there is a need to look into why multiple crews are having an issue with this clearance. Are the crews overlooking something or is the cpdlc clearance lacking the clear routing instructions?why is it that clearance delivery cannot see the actual clearance message sent via cpdlc? The fact that clearance delivery could not see what we had received added to the confusion when we initially called for clarification of our clearance. This is also a great example of why we should be able to print a copy of our clearance. Having to jump from page to page when there is an issue with a clearance does not make it any easier to decipher and increases the odds of missing an important change.allow clearance delivery to see exactly what the crew is receiving as a clearance. Allow the crew to print a clearance message containing the clearance as we do with pre departure clearance. If the flight crew is indeed overlooking something on this clearance; please point it out to us to avoid future problems.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Captain reported receiving a confusing clearance via CPDLC that required a call to Clearance Delivery for clarification.

Narrative: Confusing clearance via CPDLC. Flight Plan route was WEVIC4.HVE.DVC.CIM.PNH. Upon receiving the CPDLC clearance it stated that it was a revised clearance. The First Officer and I both saw that there were revisions to the WEVIC4 speed and altitude restrictions. We were however confused by the wording 'CLEARED TO PNH VIA ROUTE CLEARANCE' AND 'AFTER PNH CLEARED TO ZZZ ARPT AS FILED' because we saw no change to the original route as filed. We contacted SLC Clearance Delivery for clarification. They stated that they are unable to see the clearance message that is actually sent to the aircraft via CPDLC; but confirmed that our route was indeed modified to read ...DVC dct PNH... deleting CIM from the route. Clearance delivery also stated that multiple crews have been experiencing confusion with this CPDLC Clearance. I do not know if the First Officer and I were both missing something; but neither of us could see on the clearance received via CPDLC what the actual change to our routing was other than airspeed and altitude restrictions. The call to Clearance Delivery did clarify our route. It also indicated that there is a need to look into why multiple crews are having an issue with this clearance. Are the crews overlooking something or is the CPDLC Clearance lacking the clear routing instructions?Why is it that Clearance Delivery cannot see the actual clearance message sent via CPDLC? The fact that Clearance Delivery could not see what we had received added to the confusion when we initially called for clarification of our clearance. This is also a great example of why we should be able to print a copy of our clearance. Having to jump from page to page when there is an issue with a clearance does not make it any easier to decipher and increases the odds of missing an important change.Allow Clearance Delivery to see exactly what the crew is receiving as a clearance. Allow the crew to print a clearance message containing the clearance as we do with PDC. If the flight crew is indeed overlooking something on this clearance; please point it out to us to avoid future problems.

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.