RWY INCURSION WHEN THE PIC OF A NIGHT OP CARGO FLT CROSSES RWY 4L AFTER HAVING BEEN CLRED TO TAXI TO THAT SAME RWY AT EWR; NJ.

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OPERATING IN AND OUT OF EWR ALL WK. USING RWY 4L 80% OF THE TIME. WE WERE CLRED TXWY B; TXWY RB; TXWY V; TO RWY 4L. THE QUESTION IS: WAS 'DELTA' STATED IN THE CLRNC. NOT SURE. I ENCOUNTERED SEVERAL DISTRS AT THE INTXN OF TXWY RB AND TXWY V. FORTUNATELY; THE ARPT WAS NOT BUSY. IT WAS EARLY. THERE WERE ONLY 3 ACFT TAXIING AND NO TKOF OR LNDG TFC. WE WERE DIRECTED TO HOLD SHORT OF TXWY RB WHILE ON TXWY B AND THEN CTLR CHANGED HIS MIND FOR OTHER TFC TO GIVE WAY TO US. HE WAS ON TXWY A NEAR TXWY N. ANOTHER ACFT ON TXWY B NEAR TXWY C WHICH WAS CONVERGING AND NO MENTION WAS MADE FROM CTLR ON WHO WAS TO GIVE WAY TO WHO. MY FO ADDRESSED STIFF CTLS ON THE ELEVATOR AND AILERONS; WHILE I PROCEEDED DOWN TXWY V TO RWY 4R AS I HAVE DONE FOR MANY YRS AND ALL THAT WK. I THEN REALIZED THE MISTAKE. FORTUNATELY; TWR WAS HANDLING GND AND ALL FREQS AND THERE WAS NO TFC IN THE AIR. I CROSSED RWY 4L AT TXWY V INSTEAD OF TXWY D; TXWY PD TO RWY 4L WHICH WAS NOT HEARD BY ANY CREW MEMBER. THE CTLR DID NOT MAKE A BIG DEAL OF IT. HE WAS VERY POLITE. I AM SURE WE WOULD. THE CTLR WOULD HAVE FELT DIFFERENT HAD THE ARPT BEEN BUSY. ALSO; I WOULD HAVE NOTICED ACFT TAKE OFF AND LAND ON RWY 4L. WE ALWAYS CLR BEFORE XING ANY RWY. THE BIGGEST FACTOR IS: I HAVE HAD A SUBSTANDARD FO WHO IS 56 YRS OLD; FAILED 2 CAPT UPGRADES AND HAS TO BE WATCHED THE ENTIRE TIME. THIS INCREASES MY WORKLOAD. THE COMPANY AND A MAJORITY OF THE CREW FORCE ARE AWARE OF THIS FO. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 554907: PROBABLE CAUSE OF THIS EVENT WAS THE FATIGUE CAUSED BY THE NATURE OF THE LIMIT OF FLYING. BY THAT NIGHT; BOTH THE CREW AND EWR FLT OPS WERE SO TIRED WE CALLED OUR FLT BY THE WRONG FLT NUMBER. UPON CHK-IN WITH GND/TWR (OUR FREQ) WE WERE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS 'BRAVO; HOLD SHORT ROMEO; BRAVO; RWY 4L.' I READ THAT BACK. THE CAPT (OF 12 YRS IN B727 AND MOST OF HIS FLYING IN THE NE) SAID 'I'VE GOT IT;' OR WORDS TO THAT EFFECT. IT WAS REASONABLE TO THINK THAT HE DID HAVE THE CTLR'S INSTRUCTIONS DOWN; AND I THEN DID NOT LOOK AT THE TAXI RTE FURTHER; BUT INSTEAD PROCEEDED TO TUNE RADIOS (121.5) AND BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST ITEMS.