I'd also like to offer some thoughts and perspective on the company's performance through the last recession in the 2008 to 2009 time frame and why we expect this experience to be very different.
By and large, our people have been responsible, open-minded and supportive of our efforts to remain open and constructive during the past 60 days.
Wabash National's backlog ended the first quarter at approximately $1 billion after registering $1.1 billion at the end of 2019.
This is much less than the 20% decline that is seen in the broader industry over the same time period.
Understand that Wabash National has really been reacting to the pandemic in only the last 60 days, and those actions that we take will be seen in future periods.
On a consolidated basis, first-quarter revenue was $387 million, with consolidated new trailer shipments of approximately 9,150 units during the quarter.
First-quarter gross margin was 9.5% of sales, while operating income came in a loss of $110 million due to noncash goodwill impairment charges.
Operating income on a non-GAAP adjusted basis was a loss of $2.9 million.
Given the uncertainty of the current environment, we recorded noncash goodwill impairment charges totaling $107 million relating to the acquisitions of the Walker Group and Supreme Industries.
Finally, for the quarter, GAAP net income was a loss of $106.6 million or negative $2.01 per diluted share.
On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, net income was a loss of $2.3 million or negative $0.04 per share.
In rough numbers, it's fair to say that our cost structure is highly variable with material cost of 60% and direct labor equating to another 10-plus percent.
So in total, I'd like to think of our total cost base is approximately 75% to 80% variable.
Additionally, we have temporarily but significantly reduced fixed costs in the second quarter by executing a two-week, companywide furlough that incorporated 90% of all salaried employees.
Our liquidity or cash plus available borrowings as of March 31 was $277 million with $155 million of cash and $122 million of availability on our revolving credit facility.
In March of this year, we proactively drew $45 million from the revolver to bolster our cash balance.
Our modeling suggested a $45 million revolver pool covered the worst case we could envision, which is to say, we do not expect to tap our revolving credit facility again in 2020, but it is further liquidity that remains available to us.
We are targeting a 50% reduction from our previous guidance to approximately $20 million in spend and stand ready to reduce further as required.
With regard to capital allocation during the first quarter, we invested $6.3 million in capital projects, paid our quarterly dividend of $4.5 million and repurchased $8.9 million of shares prior to the pandemic.
The balance stands at just $135 million, and we expect to look to refinance this instrument in the next year.
The only potential financial covenant in place is on our revolving credit facility, which dictates a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of one to one when excess availability on the revolver is less than 10% of the total facility.
With the uniquely severe nature of this crisis, it seems like the 2008 to 2009 time period will provide the most relevant comparison.
First and foremost, in early 2008, the company did not have the cash or liquidity balance that it enjoys today.

Summary:
Wabash National's backlog ended the first quarter at approximately $1 billion after registering $1.1 billion at the end of 2019.
On a consolidated basis, first-quarter revenue was $387 million, with consolidated new trailer shipments of approximately 9,150 units during the quarter.
Finally, for the quarter, GAAP net income was a loss of $106.6 million or negative $2.01 per diluted share.
On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, net income was a loss of $2.3 million or negative $0.04 per share.
Our liquidity or cash plus available borrowings as of March 31 was $277 million with $155 million of cash and $122 million of availability on our revolving credit facility.