AUTO LOANS: The rate for auto loan delinquencies 60 days or older decreased in the second quarter. (Mark Ralson/AFP/Getty Images)

Auto loans at least 60 days behind have fallen across the US, according to a report released by consumer ratings agency TransUnion on Monday.

In other words, late payments on auto loans dropped in the second quarter--a sign that Americans are trying to deal with their debts.

“The national trend we are seeing continues to point to a clear improvement in payment behavior,” TransUnion automotive vice president Peter Turek said in a statement.

The drop in the auto delinquency rate is the largest in nine years. Americans, who have been mainly consumers in recent memory, have turned to saving.

“Although part of the reason for the turnaround in delinquency rates is the influx of new, lower risk loans as we have noted before,” Turek added. “Consumers do not see a quick fix to the short-term economic and employment situation and are focusing their attention instead on savings and lower consumption of discretionary goods.”

In the second quarter, delinquent auto loans dropped to 0.53 percent, down from 0.73 percent in the first quarter, according to TransUnion’s analysis of some 27 million credit reports.

On the year the rate has been down 27 percent--the biggest decline since 2001.

Montana, Rhode Island, and Utah were the only states that saw increases at 0.38 percent, 0.74 percent, and 0.71 percent respectively.

The largest auto loan delinquency decline was in Vermont, from 1 percent to 0.58 percent. The lowest rates can be found in North Dakota at 0.28 percent and Montana at 0.29 percent.

Mississippi and Louisiana had the respective highest rates at 1.05 percent and 0.97 percent.

New auto loans were on the upswing, up 18.7 percent from the first quarter, TransUnion said.