Guy Fox, executive vice president of customs services for Stonepath Logistics Inc. and a 35-year veteran of the region’s maritime industry, has started lobbying to become executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

The post has been held on an interim basis by Bruce Seaton, the port’s former chief operating officer, since Larry Keller resigned in September. Seaton has said he intends to seek the job on a permanent basis.

“It’s a matter of being a good leader, understanding what the process is and how to bring people into it,” said Fox, who is 66. “After being in the international trade business for 35 years, I’ve got a lot of resources and people that I know.”

Fox, who sold his Redondo Beach-based Global Transportation Services Inc. to Stonepath Logistics in 2002, said he plans to retire from the company in late March.

The city is still months away from making a decision. It is expected to take another two months to retain a firm to conduct a nationwide search and another 30 to 60 days before a short list is recommended to the Board of Harbor Commissioners. The mayor and the L.A. City Council must then approve the selection.

The process is further complicated by election-year politics. It is unlikely that anyone would be named to the position until after the July 1, when the mayor is sworn in.

Doane Liu, the Los Angeles deputy mayor with responsibility for the port, said several other potential candidates have called Mayor James Hahn’s office to express interest, though he refused to reveal names.

“(Fox) called me and sent his resume,” said Liu. “He’s welcome to apply. (But) he doesn’t have any advantage over any other candidate.”

Despite a process that starts with an executive search firm and flows through the Board of Harbor Commissioners, the mayor will wield considerable influence on the final selection.

Hahn, a San Pedro resident whose sister is the councilwoman representing the harbor, has pushed an agenda calling for no net increase in pollution at the port an ambitious program considering container traffic is expected to double by 2020.

Fox, who praised Hahn’s anti-pollution efforts, said he would push for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority’s plan for a shuttle rail to run from the 20-mile rail line to the warehouse and distribution centers in the Inland Empire, which would eliminate even more truck traffic.

Environmentalists, who strongly opposed what they saw as Keller’s emphasis on business at the expense of air quality, are pushing for an executive director who will weigh community and business concerns on equally.

Seaton declined to comment on the selection process.