Yes. Your mileage may vary on the terminology. When it comes to alignments, you have:
Simple front- set the toe and let it go
Center line thrust- front end is set to the center line of the vehicle, determined by the rear wheels and some vehicles simply just have toe adjustments.
4 wheel thrust- adjustments to wheels on both axles.
Simple front end toe alignments generally apply to older, older vehicles with solid front and rear axles.
Modern rear wheel drive vehicles can have not just toe adjustments but camber and caster as well.
Most front wheel drive vehicles have rear camber adjustments. A 4 wheel thrust alignment is performed where the front adjustment are made when the rear is set to zero, then rear adjustments are set to specs.
Our Tahoe's and Yukon's require a center line thrust alignment. This involves setting the toe to the geometric
Center line of the vehicle, followed by camber and caster, if needed. All four wheels will get an alignment head during this process. Yes, you can adjust the toe by itself and it will be correct on the readout. However, if the toe is not set to the center line of the vehicle it may track off center while driving down the road. Think of how a dog runs and starts turning sideways while he runs.
His front feet are straight but his body is not lined up on them. Ever been behind a van or truck/SUV going down the road and it look like it was riding kind of crooked? That a hastily done alignment or the old "set the toe and let it go" job. The front toe was set but not checked to the center line of the vehicle.
And lastly, the first thing that any alignment tech should do before they start the alignment is to center the steering wheel.