A B737-400 FLC CLBS ABOVE THE PUBLISHED ALT XING DURING AN RNAV FMC ON THE CHECKER 4 DEP FROM CLT; NC.

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INCIDENT OCCURRED FLYING CHECKER 4 RNAV RWY 18R DEP. DEP IS FLOWN WITH AUTOPLT IN LNAV AND VNAV DUE TO ITS MULTIPLE HDG AND ALT CHANGES. THE DEP REQUIRES ACFT TO CLB AND MAINTAIN 14000 FT WHICH IS SET IN THE ALT ON THE MCP FOR THE AUTOPLT PRIOR TO DEP. AS PNF; LNAV WAS SELECTED OUT OF 400 FT AGL; AUTOPLT SELECTED OUT OF 2000 FT AGL; VNAV SELECTED OUT OF 3000 FT AGL AS PER PROC. BEGAN FLYING DEP; PASSING DRVER INTXN; WHICH REQUIRES A XING AT OR ABOVE 6000 FT AND MORE THAN 230 KTS; DEP ASKED F100 TFC AHEAD WHAT HIS SPD WAS. HE RESPONDED '230 KTS.' DEP INSTRUCTED US TO SLOW FROM 250 KTS TO 230 KTS. COMPANY PROC IS THAT BELOW 10000 FT AND HIGH DENSITY OPS; AUTOPLT CHANGES ARE TO BE MADE ON THE MCP; NOT HEADS DOWN IN FMS. I SELECTED LEVEL CHANGE AND 230 KTS ON THE MCP; CLB RATE APPROX 2500 FPM WHILE BTWN 7000 FT AND 8000 FT. LEVEL CHANGE DISREGARDS XING RESTRS IN FMC. ACFT CLBED THROUGH 8000 FT XING RESTR AT GREDY INTXN TO 9300 FT. WHEN DEP QUESTIONED OUR ALT; WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO CLB TO 11000 FT AT 230 KTS. NO TCASII ALERTS RECEIVED. HOW PROB AROSE: DEP ALTERED SID. COMPANY PROCS BELOW 10000 FT ARE TO AVOID FMC ENTRIES. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: ACFT AHEAD WAS MAINTAINING 230 KTS. ATC QUESTIONED F100 SPD DUE TO OUR 40 KT OVERTAKE AND SEPARATION. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: 1) DON'T ALTER SID. 2) CHANGE WORDING ON ALT RESTRS TO DEPICT WORDING MORE CLRLY; IE; 'ABOVE' OR 'BELOW.' 3) ALTER ENTIRE SID RESTRS TO MAINTAIN 8000 FT TILL ATC ISSUES HIGHER ALT DUE TO INBOUND TFC.