A freight forwarder is not a mere intermediary passing a truck on to the customer with a margin. It chooses mode and route, contracts carriers, prepares the consignment note, AWB or B/L, handles customs, works out chargeable weight and answers when something goes wrong.
Its liability depends on how it contracts: issuing the transport document in its own name makes it a contractual carrier under the CMR or whichever convention applies. If it also operates its own vehicles in the EU, it needs the authorisation under Regulation 1071/2009.
This site is written from inside that profession: the tools compute what a forwarder computes every day.