@red459 Welcome to the forums! And, yeah, you always want to have a few carriers on hand to move resources. The only other piece of advice I can give you is actually easy to overlook.
When you get around to collecting Science points, don't forget to use them for research! The research happens in the background, over time, so remember to go back to the tech tree and (if you have the points) keep researching, when something unlocks. If you let the points stack up and forget to use them, you are hurting the development of your colony.