Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Total 5445; Flight Crew Type 2642
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Procedure
About 20 mins prior to departure; the ACARS printed our servicing form (SVC Info Summary; as it always does). It showed our LAVs serviced; potable water taken care of; no animals aboard and DG...yes. Curious; as we had not received the required DG 'preliminary form'; we had our CS agent contact Ops for clarification. [Ops] stated they will look into it. The agent had finished loading our customers; and the only delay to closing the door; was my requirement to learn the disposition of the DG we are carrying. We; he and I; called Ops again; this time I spoke to the Ops person directly (I did not get a name but as it was near midnight and we were trying to depart [the gate]; determination should be easy). I was told; 'the dangerous goods have been removed and you do not have them on board'. I told the gate agent we could then close. As I walked into the cockpit; the First Officer (F/O) had just got off the interphone with our ground personnel. The ramp gent stated that 50lbs of DG were onboard. We contacted Ops via radio this time to ask; 'what is going on?!' I also sent an ACARS message to the [Chief Pilot]; trying to get clarification before moving towards the runway. I assume this DG stuff is important as we have received numerous 'memos' over the last few years and an entire chapter of our FOM is dedicated simply to DG. I try to afford this issue the importance that it 'seems' the company demands. The ground crew then returned to the interphone and stated what sounded like 'DG was removed'. We finished our checklists; pushed off the gate and began our taxi based on his statement (and assurance from [Ops] and the [Chief Pilot]). Enroute to the runway; we received our DG final summary (a report that we are only supposed to be provided when we actually have DG aboard). Curious; because the [Ops] rep and the [Chief Pilot] had told us that the DG had been removed; we stopped and tried to re-contact both (radio for [Ops] and ACARS for [Chief Pilot]). We received no answer to numerous radios calls to the B side [Ops] rep. At this point; I considered taxiing back to the gate to get this all straightened out. I was tired; borderline fatigued (after sitting for 3hrs in ZZZ awaiting our flight that would have us landing in ZZZ1 at 3am...scheduled); and getting frustrated that an everyday procedure could not be followed. I then tried the 'C concourse' Ops frequency and eventually made contact. That rep told us the DG was in fact onboard! I am really getting tired of being lied to! Just because someone else doesn't want to do their job or do it correctly; I get this litany of BS or outright lies! I reconnected with the [Chief Pilot]; because I was ready to taxi back to gate and cancel at this point. I was tired and now angry; neither was of any good. Luckily the [Chief Pilot] is a man I respect and can put my trust in. Had it been almost anyone else and I would have just returned to the gate and found a hotel in ZZZ. But this [Chief Pilot] explained that the DG in question was 51 [pounds] of semi-hazardous materials; not actually in the DG category. That the confusion was brought on by the anomaly of this particular product not really crossing the threshold to the DG category but it was a material of 'note'. Sounded plausible. All I know is I am a simple man. If carrying this DG stuff is so important; as to warrant an entire chapter and to be subject of numerous company missives (fleet newsletters; pilot bulletins; etc) then give me what I need...straight! Black or white! One or Zero! No ambiguity! I now feel I should've taxied back to the gate and had whatever this package(s) was(were) removed. I also know that had I taxied back; I probably would've 'pulled the plug' because I was tired (and the weather in ZZZ1 was looking more and more like an autoland necessity due to the weather. Just not a good combination). As it turned out that probably would have been the prudent thing to do. The weather in ZZZ1 was very near CAT I minimums (no autoland was avaiable) and the possibility of a divert; very real. This ambiguity of this item/situation needs to be fixed. The real issue is; people in positions of authority; lying to a fellow employee(s) to try to achieve the liar's wishes. This is not right; and potentially extremely dangerous! Simply provide accurate information so that informed decisions can be made! It would've been so simple to just manually fill out the DG form and move on. Instead lie after lie. Ridiculous.
Air carrier Captain reported discrepancy between HAZMAT cargo and flight crew documentation.