Narrative:

After arriving at the aircraft and doing preflight I called for clearance. I waited through numerous communication calls as the controller was very busy. The weather was foggy and visibility on ATIS was zero. When it was my turn the controller stated that it would be a full route and was I ready. I said yes and copied the following clearance.'cleared to ZZZ radar vectors to shipp linnd kingg kiner L461 [destination]. I did have the added points kingg and kiner spelled again as they were read too fast for me to make sure I got them right. We delayed due to paperwork we needed for the return trip. When we taxied out for departure on runway 16 and the captain was briefing the departure I told him we were given radar vectors to shipp as our initial departure clearance. As we took the runway the captain asked again about our initial clearance and he then said check with tower and ask what heading they want. When I asked tower they said we were to fly the westchester two departure. I said that was not what we were given but that's what we would fly. We put that in and flew that departure. This purpose of this report is not to try to get anyone in trouble but simply to demonstrate and identify a problem I think exists. I think the air traffic controllers are given too many frequencies to handle and are getting overloaded; this is leaving them and the pilots in a situation that we are at greater risk of making mistakes. In my opinion; this should be reviewed and some reasonable limits be placed on the controllers work load.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: First Officer Pilot reported receiving one departure instruction from clearance delivery; and when questioned; a different one from the Tower Controller.

Narrative: After arriving at the Aircraft and doing preflight I called for clearance. I waited through numerous communication calls as the Controller was very busy. The weather was foggy and visibility on ATIS was zero. When it was my turn the Controller stated that it would be a full route and was I ready. I said yes and copied the following clearance.'Cleared to ZZZ radar vectors to SHIPP LINND KINGG KINER L461 [destination]. I did have the added points KINGG AND KINER spelled again as they were read too fast for me to make sure I got them right. We delayed due to paperwork we needed for the return trip. When we taxied out for departure on runway 16 and the Captain was briefing the departure I told him we were given radar vectors to SHIPP as our initial departure clearance. As we took the runway the Captain asked again about our initial clearance and he then said check with Tower and ask what heading they want. when I asked tower they said we were to fly the Westchester Two departure. I said that was not what we were given but that's what we would fly. We put that in and flew that departure. This purpose of this report is not to try to get anyone in trouble but simply to demonstrate and identify a problem I think exists. I think the air traffic controllers are given too many frequencies to handle and are getting overloaded; this is leaving them and the pilots in a situation that we are at greater risk of making mistakes. In my opinion; this should be reviewed and some reasonable limits be placed on the controllers work load.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.